New BBC impartiality rules: more of the same – or a fresh moderating touch?

Stuart Everett on 13 October 2023

At the end of September, the BBC enacted a new set of rules for the impartiality of their flagship presenters, with particular emphasis on how stars act on social media. 

Staff on big draws like Match of The Day, Antiques Roadshow and Strictly Come Dancing are now allowed to “express views on issues and policies” but must “stop short of political campaigning.”

What the BBC classifies as ‘political campaigning’ includes supporting/attacking a party during a set period where their show is on air, attacking individual politicians’ characters, or commenting on debates during elections. 

The head of the review, John Hardie, expressed the importance of striking a balance between freedom of speech and editorial impartiality, telling the BBC the new rules allowed presenters to “take a side” but ensuring that they “state the facts of the issue”.

The changes come hot on the heels of social media controversy swirling around the BBC. 

In March, Match of the Day presenter and former England striker Gary Lineker labelled the Conservative government’s asylum policy “similar to Germany in the 1930s.” He was subsequently suspended by the BBC. The company rescinded this after fellow Match of the Day presenters acted in solidarity and refused to work on that weeks’ episode. 

Lineker’s Tweet that led to the suspension / @GaryLineker on X

Former Editorial Policy Controller Richard Ayre weighed in on the new rules, saying the BBC were simply “kicking the can down the road” and compromising with the biggest names on their staff, with little real-world change.

He said that views aired by presenters were usually criticised by other parts of the media, not actually the public watching.

Ayre labelled the “big right-wing press” as the group most involved in the outcry over Lineker’s statements. He suggested that these corporate interests would distort the new initiatives to argue “that the BBC [is] not impartial”, and therefore should not receive public funding. 

Gary Lineker has stayed relatively quiet on the issue. He sought to moderate the debate, taking to X (formerly Twitter) to back the reforms as “very sensible.” 

Whether or not there is any concrete change to follow from the new rules is a question of time, but for the moment it seems that very little of substance has changed at the BBC.

An Impartiality Crisis in the BBC

Oliver Bhutiani on 15 March 2023

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear” reads the statue of George Orwell outside of BBC’s Headquarters in Westminster, unveiled in 2017. Balancing impartiality and free speech within the BBC is not a new issue but this balance has generally been upheld to at least a satisfactory extent – the BBC has employed a range of members from across the political spectrum with few major debates being sparked over an outright bias. However, more recently, increasing questions have been raised over a tendency for the BBC to favour views from the Right to those on the Left – beginning with revelations over the Director-General of the BBC having been a member of the Conservative Party, also including the BBC Chair, who donated £400,000 to the Conservatives and helped facilitate an £800,000 loan to Boris Johnson – and finally erupting with the decision to suspend Gary Lineker over a tweet opposing the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill.

As many have pointed out, it seems unlikely that this suspension would have taken place if the tweet had instead been in support of the Government policy. There are plenty of examples of right-wing tweets sent that the BBC deemed acceptable – not limited to Alan Sugar tweeting a photoshopped picture of Jeremy Corbyn next to Adolf Hitler. Next to some of the tweets and statements made by right-wing members of the BBC, the tweet by Linker seems more acceptable – especially given that the tweet echoed views from actual holocaust survivors on the Government’s policies. Given that the BBC has a problem with political bias that reaches even the top of its directorship, questions have emerged over how the BBC should move forwards from this, and what its enforcement of impartiality should look like.

It must be noted however, that the BBC provides an invaluable role: it maintains a high journalistic standard in the UK; provides free and balanced information for those abroad – especially in countries increasingly clamping down on free press; and acts as a globally recognised high standard representative of UK journalism, among many other roles. Calls for the BBC to be defunded, privatised, or shut down would massively damage the press standard in the UK – the US clearly showing the damaging results of partisan, biased reporting. Attempts to implement US-Style news programmes into UK television have failed, in part as a result of the BBC upholding high standards of reporting.

Reform of the BBC is therefore necessary to uphold its high standard – not an easy goal to achieve, but a vital one. It is clear that both the Chair and Director-General must step down – failure to uphold their own guidelines on impartiality should not be tolerated. Individuals within the BBC must be permitted to share personal views independently, on their own platforms – as Andrew Neil was permitted to do, sharing his views on Climate Change, Brexit, and the SNP, while adhering to impartiality while on the BBC platform. But these standards must be uniform – views from across the spectrum should be treated equally – Gary Lineker should be as free to express views on the government as Andrew Neil was on Brexit. While Lineker’s suspension has been lifted and the BBC is claiming to review its impartiality guidelines, to ensure lasting change, these guidelines should be enforced by a neutral body from the top. The government should no longer have any role in appointing the BBC Board – instead this must be kept in check by a completely independent standards committee.

Controversy over bias within the BBC is an inevitable issue – and a necessary one. But when cases of bias are as clear and obvious as we have seen in the Gary Lineker case, it is vital for the BBC to enforce its own guidelines, even – and especially – against those at the very top of the institution.

Image Credit: Flickr

“More of the Universe, more time with you”: Doctor Who’s same-sex storyline and seeing myself in fiction

Willow Arlett on 29 March 2022

This year, during the New Year’s special of Doctor Who, companion Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill), or ‘Yaz’ to her friends, came out as gay. This gave the first female iteration of ‘The Doctor’ (Jodie Whittaker) a female love interest, the first time in the show’s history of the iconic character .

There are six versions of Willow Arlett that sit down to watch the events of ‘Eve of the Daleks’ unfold on New Year’s Day: six versions of Willow Arlett that are overwhelmed with enough emotion to fill an entire TARDIS.

The first curls up in the same position on the sofa as she does in 2018. She is three episodes into Jodie Whittaker’s first series as the elusive timelord when Yaz and The Doctor are asked: “Are you two seeing each other?” and something inside her shifts. When The Doctor herself is confused by the question and must clarify it with her companion, who panickedly denies anything of the sort, Willow’s hit with a wave of curiosity. Are the writers making a passing joke or is this a hint at something more? She’s not sure if there’s a point in rooting for this pairing yet, but nevertheless, she’s hopeful. When Yaz is asked by Dan (John Bishop) this episode “Have you told her? […] How you feel about her?” and Yaz’s first response is “Is it that obvious?”, she smiles. In this instance, curiosity didn’t kill the cat.

The second Willow walks into the viewing party exhausted, collapsing into her seat with a heart that’s sunken 10ft underground. She joins us after a study period that, instead of working, has been spent in the sixth form common area, stringing together stolen moments from the past two series of Doctor Who – that could be interpreted as romantic, if her friends could just see what she’s seeing – only for the discussion to fall on deaf ears. “Don’t get your hopes up” and “it’s probably just the actresses’ chemistry you’re seeing” are ringing in her mind and she’s fed up. The spark of hope glows a little less bright, but she refuses to convince herself she’s delusional; especially when Aisling Bea, the special’s guest star, mentions “good-hearted weirdos are always the keepers” and Yaz looks over at the Thirteenth Doctor as if she’s hung the moon and the stars. She almost yells “I told you so!” into thin air when 10 minutes later she’s met with a confessional.

The third Willow emerges from the height of the 2020 lockdown and sits quietly in the corner. After spending so much time alone the past few months, she’s come to the realisation that she’s bisexual. She’s come from such a loving and accepting family, she’d never even thought about labels or her identity before the world stopped. She doesn’t know how to feel. When Mandip Gill, with the most grace and sensitivity, acts out the words “I haven’t told anyone, not even myself”, this version of Willow breaks down with tears of relief. One of her favourite characters also took a while to realise her identity and is still figuring it out, she feels much less alone.

Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill as The Doctor and Yaz (Image Credit: Radiotimes/BBC)

The fourth Willow, halfway through her first year of university, sits in the middle, feeling quite lost. She’s grown up in a world of linear thinkers, and it makes her feel out of place. The people around her all dress the same way, all listen to the same style of music, all seem to follow the zeitgeist of being a ‘typical Leeds student’. Her confidence has been knocked down by half, but she’s determined to step back into her little flat and battle this monotonous crowd. She nods as the Doctor says “come on you brilliant humans! We go again until we win.” The embers of self-assurance she once had before the pandemic rekindling.

The fifth Willow swings her legs into the latter’s lap to get more comfortable. This variant is slowly realising that it’s important to stand up for what you believe in and challenge the opinions of others. She may not always have the confidence for big strides, but she’s trying damn well hard to make second year the year of being her true authentic self: petticoats, DM boots and all. The main reason she loves Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor is that she’s unapologetically quirky, clever, and kind. After four years of saying that she’ll channel this energy, the past semester is proof that,  this time, those truly aren’t just empty words, even if she does still doubt herself occasionally.

The sixth, and final, Willow is the one writing this article. She’s the one who got to witness the first female doctor look at a woman with all the love and loss in the universe. Happiness and love fizz away inside of her, filling her up from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. As her phone buzzes away, racking up excited texts from close friends, she sits with the widest smile on her face. She’s so glad she sat up a little straighter when Yaz proclaimed: “I want more. More of the universe, more time with you” on the TARDIS all those years ago. She’s so proud of how far she’s come.   

Image Credit: BBC