FREELANCERS and BBC contributers have hit out at the organisation's new director general after he said sharing their opinions online could harm the broadcaster’s reputation for impartiality.
Tim Davie said renewing the BBC’s commitment to being impartial is the “number one priority” amid accusations of bias from figures across the political spectrum.
Addressing staff at the BBC’s Cardiff office, Davie said: “If you want to be an opinionated columnist or a partisan campaigner on social media then that is a valid choice, but you should not be working at the BBC.”
He added: “Our research shows that too many perceive us to be shaped by a particular perspective.”
Davie said new rules around employees’ use of social media will be introduced and will be “rigorously enforced”, while also hinting at a crackdown on the corporation’s stars making money from private companies, adding there will be “clearer direction on the declaration of external interests”.
The warning is thought to be targeted at high-profile BBC employees like Emily Maitlis who was criticised for her opening monologue about the Government’s handling of Dominic Cummings’ lockdown trip. The BBC ruled the introduction “did not meet our standards of due impartiality”.
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And BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty was rebuked last year after commenting on remarks made by US President Donald Trump. Then-chief Lord Tony Hall later reversed the decision.
Political editor Laura Kuenssberg and television interviewer Andrew Neil have also been accused of letting their views show in their online comments.
However, some of the most high-profile BBC figures, including the Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker, are unlikely to be covered by Davie’s edict because they work outside news and current affairs.
But those who are not employed as full-time staff but contribute to the BBC regularly are wondering if the rules apply to them too.
“Surely we are employed because of our knowledge, to give an overview,” a long-term specialist contributor told The Guardian.
“We are regularly retweeted by the BBC publicity machine because they know we help to publicise content. If we are not allowed to have personal voices this will not work. I think the BBC will soon find that new rivals, such as Times Radio, will be stepping up their own social media punditry instead.”
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A significant number of those who front programmes on radio and television are employed on temporary contracts.
Commentators and staff were initially asked to to build up a personal online following and to tweet breaking news and analysis as it happens.
But that stance changed last year when Fran Unsworth, BBC head of news, asked her reporting teams to be more impartial before Davie took the role.
The art historian and broadcaster Bendor Grosvenor was one of the first to express dismay about Davie’s speech. “I can absolutely understand this in news and current affairs,” he wrote on Twitter.
“But across the whole BBC? It would certainly rule me out. (Who cares?, you say, and fine, I am a tiny, tiny player here) but given the ubiquity of social media in our lives now is it actually practical? Because if the BBC can only hire people with either no opinions or afraid to express opinions, it might find its pool of available staff to be only the dull and timid. The BBC thrives on innovation and creativity. Might it be better to focus on balance, rather than silence?”
I can absolutely understand this in news & current affairs. Across the whole BBC though? It would certainly rule me out ('who cares!?' you say, and fine, I'm a tiny, tiny player here). But given the ubiquity of social media in our lives now, is it actually practical? 2/3
— Bendor Grosvenor PhD (@arthistorynews) September 4, 2020
Davie said new rules around employees’ use of social media will be introduced and will be “rigorously enforced”, while also hinting at a crackdown on the corporation’s stars making money from private companies, adding there will be “clearer direction on the declaration of external interests”.
Davie added: “To be clear, this is not about abandoning democratic values such as championing fair debate or an abhorrence of racism. But it is about being free from political bias, guided by the pursuit of truth, not a particular agenda.”
It is reported that there will be a meeting has this week by management that is will clarify the new rules.
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