Exclusive: BBC presenters have been told to challenge guests who accuse others of transphobia after the broadcaster admitted that news items on J.K. Rowling fell short of its editorial standards.
In an internal briefing note, BBC journalists and production teams were advised that “care is needed” when people are labeled “transphobic” and the term should be interrogated during on-air debate.
The advice featured in a nine-page document on “reporting sex and gender” circulated to the BBC newsroom late last year. Deadline has obtained the briefing, which can be read in full below.
The guidance follows the BBC apologizing to Rowling twice last year. The Harry Potter author was accused of transphobia by trans rights advocates, but the claim was not properly challenged by presenters, including Radio 4’s Evan Davis.
The briefing note was issued to help journalists navigate what BBC director general Tim Davie described this week as an “area of controversy.
In an internal briefing note, BBC journalists and production teams were advised that “care is needed” when people are labeled “transphobic” and the term should be interrogated during on-air debate.
The advice featured in a nine-page document on “reporting sex and gender” circulated to the BBC newsroom late last year. Deadline has obtained the briefing, which can be read in full below.
The guidance follows the BBC apologizing to Rowling twice last year. The Harry Potter author was accused of transphobia by trans rights advocates, but the claim was not properly challenged by presenters, including Radio 4’s Evan Davis.
The briefing note was issued to help journalists navigate what BBC director general Tim Davie described this week as an “area of controversy.
- 3/22/2024
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
The BBC has a duty to “be nice” amid the fraught debate about transgender rights, according to the UK broadcaster’s director general.
Tim Davie told lawmakers on Wednesday that the BBC’s detractors were attempting to whip up a “deeply damaging” narrative around the corporation’s output on gender identity issues.
He was giving evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee amid concern over a BBC complaint unit ruling against Radio 4 Today show presenter Justin Webb last month.
Webb was deemed to have broken editorial rules when he said “trans women, in other words males” during an item discussing whether biological males have an advantage in chess.
Davie was asked by Conservative MP Damian Green if the BBC was being “infused” by transgender ideology following the ruling against Webb.
The director general said BBC journalists are “doing a very good job” in difficult circumstances, but argued that Webb...
Tim Davie told lawmakers on Wednesday that the BBC’s detractors were attempting to whip up a “deeply damaging” narrative around the corporation’s output on gender identity issues.
He was giving evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee amid concern over a BBC complaint unit ruling against Radio 4 Today show presenter Justin Webb last month.
Webb was deemed to have broken editorial rules when he said “trans women, in other words males” during an item discussing whether biological males have an advantage in chess.
Davie was asked by Conservative MP Damian Green if the BBC was being “infused” by transgender ideology following the ruling against Webb.
The director general said BBC journalists are “doing a very good job” in difficult circumstances, but argued that Webb...
- 3/20/2024
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
One of the BBC’s highest profile news presenters broke rules on impartiality by referring to transgender women as “males” live on air, the corporation has determined.
Justin Webb, one of the anchors of the flagship radio news Today programme, was holding a discussion in August 2023 on whether male-born transwomen chess players had an advantage over female-born women competitors.
During the debate, Webb referred to “transwomen, in other words, males”.
Now The Sun reports that the corporation has determined the presenter broke impartiality rules pertaining to reference of sex and gender. The paper reports that the BBC’s editorial complaints department came to the conclusion after investigation that the radio presenter “gave the impression of endorsing one viewpoint in a highly controversial area.”
The Sun adds that the BBC also received 287 complaints about another recent news story, when it covered a report claiming that trans women’s milk was as...
Justin Webb, one of the anchors of the flagship radio news Today programme, was holding a discussion in August 2023 on whether male-born transwomen chess players had an advantage over female-born women competitors.
During the debate, Webb referred to “transwomen, in other words, males”.
Now The Sun reports that the corporation has determined the presenter broke impartiality rules pertaining to reference of sex and gender. The paper reports that the BBC’s editorial complaints department came to the conclusion after investigation that the radio presenter “gave the impression of endorsing one viewpoint in a highly controversial area.”
The Sun adds that the BBC also received 287 complaints about another recent news story, when it covered a report claiming that trans women’s milk was as...
- 3/2/2024
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
Welcome to ElectionLine’s A View From Abroad series, in which we speak to media figures who don’t live in America, but keep a close eye on its politics. Every couple of weeks, these smart observers will provide a unique perspective on what promises to be a fraught and unpredictable campaign for the White House. This week, our interview is with Justin Webb, a BBC journalist who spent the best part of a decade reporting on North America. He is now one of the BBC’s top presenters and hosts the UK broadcaster’s Americast podcast.
Justin Webb is an old hand at covering U.S. elections, but he admits that the nature of the 2024 campaign feels alien. On his Americast podcast last week, the BBC presenter repeatedly returned to the idea of it being a “strange” presidential race. Broadcasting from Iowa, you could almost hear him craning his...
Justin Webb is an old hand at covering U.S. elections, but he admits that the nature of the 2024 campaign feels alien. On his Americast podcast last week, the BBC presenter repeatedly returned to the idea of it being a “strange” presidential race. Broadcasting from Iowa, you could almost hear him craning his...
- 1/23/2024
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Kelsey Grammer sounded curt this morning when he brusquely told a BBC Today program interviewer that he still supports Donald Trump but, according to his interviewer, this curtness doesn’t tell the full story.
Grammer’s interviewer Justin Webb said the Frasier star was “perfectly happy” to go on talking about his support for the former Potus, “the Paramount+ PR team, less so.”
Grammer has previously expressed support for Trump – a relatively rare position for a TV and movie star to take – and he also used his BBC interview to back Roseanne Barr, another self-confessed Trump supporter.
Towards the end of the interview, Webb asks Grammer: “You mentioned Roseanne early on who had a great comeback but also was a Trump supporter. You were, at least you were, a Trump supporter, I’m fascinated to know if you still are?”
Grammer responded: “I am, and I’ll let that be the end of it.
Grammer’s interviewer Justin Webb said the Frasier star was “perfectly happy” to go on talking about his support for the former Potus, “the Paramount+ PR team, less so.”
Grammer has previously expressed support for Trump – a relatively rare position for a TV and movie star to take – and he also used his BBC interview to back Roseanne Barr, another self-confessed Trump supporter.
Towards the end of the interview, Webb asks Grammer: “You mentioned Roseanne early on who had a great comeback but also was a Trump supporter. You were, at least you were, a Trump supporter, I’m fascinated to know if you still are?”
Grammer responded: “I am, and I’ll let that be the end of it.
- 12/4/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Miriam Margolyes has said she was so upset after she accidentally said “f*** you” to Jeremy Hunt live on Radio 4 that she was “shaking all the way home in the taxi”.
In October, the actor broke the first rule of radio by swearing on the Today programme.
Margolyes was reacting to seeing the newly appointed chancellor, Hunt, in the BBC Radio 4 studio, when she used the expletive.
“When I saw him there,” she told the hosts Justin Webb and Martha Kearney towards the end of her interview, “I said, ‘You’ve got a hell of a job, best of luck.’ And what I really wanted to say was, ‘F*** you, bastard.’ But you can’t say that.”
“Oh no, no, no, you mustn’t say that,” said Webb at the time. “We’ll have to have you out of the studio now.”
“We will,” added Kearney. “With many apologies.
In October, the actor broke the first rule of radio by swearing on the Today programme.
Margolyes was reacting to seeing the newly appointed chancellor, Hunt, in the BBC Radio 4 studio, when she used the expletive.
“When I saw him there,” she told the hosts Justin Webb and Martha Kearney towards the end of her interview, “I said, ‘You’ve got a hell of a job, best of luck.’ And what I really wanted to say was, ‘F*** you, bastard.’ But you can’t say that.”
“Oh no, no, no, you mustn’t say that,” said Webb at the time. “We’ll have to have you out of the studio now.”
“We will,” added Kearney. “With many apologies.
- 1/6/2023
- by Ellie Harrison
- The Independent - TV
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