The broadcaster’s employer claims that criticism of the BBC’s trans coverage has been inflated and is causing a negative public debate about the issue.
Tim Davie, BBC producer general, accused persons of “whipping up” indignation as he defended the company’s position on the subject.
After Justin Webb, a Immediately programme presenter, made a complaint about the eligibility of” trans people, in other words men” for global chess competitions, the BBC upheld it next month.
After a speaker complained that the comments amounted to a private opinion, the broadcaster’s Journal Complaints Device (ECU) determined Webb had broken impartiality laws.
Mr Davie said “biological men” was the accepted term, adding” the rules are evident in this area”.
However, some members of the staff who claim Webb has been criticized badly have voiced a backlash against the choice. According to BBB insiders, the string has sparked controversy in the office, especially among prominent female panelists.
Gender-sensitive protesters have accused the open service journalist of failing to uphold its duty to fairness.
According to The Telegraph, older adult staff members have written to Mr. Davie to express their concerns about the choice. One person wrote,” We are slipping into very dangerous waters if the BBC is censing journalists for being factual.”
Speaking in front of MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Mr Davie denied that he had been “deluged” with concerns about the EC U’s selection and said he had received only” a handful of letters”.
He said:” This is being whipped up… around us in a way that is deeply, deeply damaging to civilised debates about these topics”.
However, the director general continued,” We need to learn from those who care very much on either side of this conversation.”
The BBC manager even sought to downplay the severity of Webb’s sin. He acknowledged that the reporter had broken the broadcaster’s fairness laws, but played it down as a “foot problem”.
He said:” It was just a sentence that was n’t quite right, we all do that. That’s what it was, no more, no less, and to work on that fast is the correct thing”.
In the past, Webb has been involved in discussions over transgender issues. After making the suggestion that accusations of stigmatization against school teacher Kathleen Stock were “false,” the columnist was found to be in limited violation of fairness laws in 2022.
Mr. Davie stated that the BBC was” an area of controversy” but did not believe it had institutional discrimination against transgender people.
He said:” It’s also an area where I think we need to have confidence in our journalists to inquire, chat, discuss these issues. We do n’t have no- go areas in the BBC”.
The director common continued,” We have to be kind and nurturing in this, talk to people, and be good.”
But, Fiona McAnena, chairman of campaigns at Sexual Matters, a human rights organisation that campaigns for clearness on gender in law, policy and language, claimed that Tim Davie “must know that the job of the BBC is not to be caring, lovely or kind, but to be scientific and impartial”.
She stated that telling the truth in the context of delivering the news is the job of a common journalist. Avoiding nervous truths to satisfy people is not being kind; it is bias.
” The speech from BBC’s mind of newspaper standards, David Jordan, on the awareness of calling men who identify as women ‘ male’ was especially revealing. The BBC’s reputation and credibility are being seriously damaged by formulating editorial standards around this sensibility above all other considerations.
According to Jordan, the appropriate phrase would be “born male” or “biologistically male.” Honestly – what does he think male means”?
Mr. Davie also defended the BBC’s decision to remove a line from a report that called the political party Reform UK “far-right.”
He said:” My personal view is you’ve got to be a bit careful with far- Left, far- Right, with parties that carry quite a lot of support. They are undoubtedly a political party on the right. I just believe that if you enter the far-left or far-right descriptors, you end up in the wrong place.
Since Hamas launched its attack on Israel in October, BBC bosses have also revealed to the committee that the broadcaster has received more than 8, 000 complaints about its coverage of the Gaza conflict.
David Jordan, the corporation’s director of editorial policy and standards, said that around 4, 000 complaints accused the BBC of bias against Israel, while roughly 4, 200 argued that it was biased in favour of Israel.
The organization has been accused of relying on journalists to express their differing opinions on social media.
The organization is looking into a report that a reporter for BBC Arabic “liked” pro-Hamas posts on social media.
Mr Davie branded social media posts by some journalists as “unacceptable” without singling out specific examples.
A BBC Three employee also made it known earlier this year that he had written a number of anti-Semitic Facebook posts that referred to white people as “viruses” and Jewish people as “nazi parasites.”
Dawn Queva, a senior scheduling coordinator at the channel, was sacked by the BBC following complaints about her behaviour.
The BBC also received criticism for its coverage of the ICJ’s South Africa case, in which Israel was accused of genocide. The BBC was charged with favoring Israel in the case.
Mr. Jordan claimed that news executives had acknowledged that “perhaps they did something wrong” when the ICJ case was being covered live.
However, Mr Davie insisted the BBC was “doing a good job” on impartiality amid tough pressure.
He said:” The pressure is ferocious from every side … this is a more polarised time, everyone wants to prescribe intent”.
