BBC staff raise concerns over on-air N-word in private call with bosses

BBC News’ editorial director, Kamal Ahmed, told staff that an incident in which a reporter used the N-word on air had left black colleagues feeling that progress made on diversity in recent years had been undermined. Some BBC News employees asked their bosses on a private call what the point was of staying with the corporation, as they looked for reassurance that it was improving its reporting on race. Many were upset that it had taken the resignation of the Radio 1Xtra presenter Sideman to force the BBC’s hand. The director general, Tony Hall, issued a formal apology nine days after the broadcast amid fears of further resignations over the issue. Staff on the call, who were variously described as “exasperated” and “very emotional”, also expressed strong concerns about the role of the BBC’s editorial policy unit, which approved the original decision to broadcast the language. The unit is led by David Jordan, the director of editorial policy and standards, who previously defended the BBC when it censured Naga Munchetty last autumn for expressing a personal view on racist comments made by Donald Trump. Hall overturned that decision following a lengthy internal and external debate about attitudes towards race at the corporation, and Jordan has become a focus of discontent among some staff, gaining a reputation for trying to ensure that the BBC’s output is not excessively “woke”. The BBC has struggled to balance its attempts to diversify its staff and ensure its output represents the concerns of Britons from a BAME background with its attempts to maintain an editorial code that requires due impartiality from its reporters both on air and on social media. Following the Black Lives Matter protests this summer, the corporation issued a statement to news staff insisting that “the BBC is not impartial on racism”, while also emphasising that they should avoid making public displays of support for Black Lives Matter as a movement and avoid attending public protests.

All data is taken from the source: https://www.theguardian.com/
Article Link: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/aug/16/bbc-staff-raise-concerns-over-on-air-n-word-in-private-call-with-bosses



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