BBC reporters cannot wear Black Lives Matter T-shirts in newsroom – Tim Davie
BBC journalists cannot wear a T-shirt supporting anti-racist movement Black Lives Matter in the corporation’s newsroom, BBC director-general Tim Davie has said.
Mr Davie, 58, said the BBC stood against racism but it was “not appropriate for a journalist who may be covering that issue to be campaigning in that way”.
He was speaking at the Sunday Times Culture Interview Forum at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.
Impartiality
Speaking about diversity and impartiality at the BBC, Mr Davie said: “I feel very, very strongly that if you walk into the BBC newsroom, you cannot be holding a Kamala Harris mug when you come to the election, no way, that’s not even acceptable.
“You cannot have any assumption about where people are politically, you leave it at the door, and your religion is journalism in the BBC, and I tell you, the problem I’ve got is people react quite chemically to that.
“So you can’t come into the newsroom with a Black Lives Matter T-shirt on, we stand absolutely firmly against racism in any form.
“I find some of the hatred in society at the moment utterly abhorrent, personally, really upsetting, but that is a campaign that has politicised objectives, therefore it is not appropriate for a journalist who may be covering that issue to be campaigning in that way.
“And for some people joining the BBC, that is a very difficult thing to accept, and it has not been an easy thing to get done this, and we wrestle with it every day.”
Priority
Earlier in the interview, Mr Davie said his “number one priority” was “trying to navigate a course where you are impartial” and that required “elements of diversity”, adding that “socioeconomic diversity” was something that “hadn’t (been) talked about enough”.
He added: “It is absolutely a big battle, and I’m getting questions, ‘why are you giving a voice to Reform?’, ‘why are you doing this?’, we’re not giving a voice, we’re covering, covering what people are interested in, covering the reality of what people feel.”
Mr Davie was also asked whether he felt safe when he had been “shouted at” and people had “come into (his) personal space”.
He said: “It’s not for the faint-hearted, these jobs in public life now, I mean, they are really quite demanding. I’m no great Californian hippie, but you have to look after yourself, you really have to.”
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Fair argument for impartiality.
But the BBC unfortunately are not impartial. They control who has access, by which they are able to shape the agenda.
The Brexit Broadcasting Corporation must be the biggest hypocrites on air…
BBC News slogan Black Shirts Matter,
They have always lied for every British Prime Minister since the Thirties, from Chamberlain until the present day…
Fair enough, if they’re reporting, they have to at least pretend to be impartial.
Besides wearing a t shirt is nowhere near as effective as decent people getting together and expelling racists out of their communities.
At present there’s a growing disconnect between the BBC’s political coverage – being pulled rapidly to the right under pressure from Farage and Reform – and the rest of its output, most of which still tries desperately to show us Britain as the BBC would like it to be (happy, modern, united, diverse in everything except opinion). Something will have to give.
Doubtless the solution will involve more rules on representation, to ensure that everyone “feels represented” without actually being represented (since the latter would be too distressing to the sensibilities of BBC execs).
but keep a seat warm for farage and do everything to not ask awkward questions. Political reporting at the beeb is dire at the moment, the likes of Mason and Kuenssberg need to go, along with Davie and Gibb.
A very valid point. Journalism like medicine requires its practitioners to answer the needs of its audience or patients. Doctors should not wear political rosettes or badges and be prepared to see patients even if they dislike them or can’t stand what they have done. Likewise journalists should present the facts to their audience first with perhaps as balanced an interpretation stressing any different views. You can’t do that wearing a political t shirt wrapped in a flag.