The Mail on Sunday reports that "BBC staff have been told to hide their work ID cards in public to avoid being confronted by angry members of the public. The broadcaster has been running a Wear It In, Don't Wear It Out campaign". The report mentions in passing something that passed me by:
Earlier this week the BBC News at Ten presenter Huw Edwards was accused of bias after liking tweets supporting Labour policies and mocking the Conservatives.Don't most BBC presenters do that? 😉
Update: As for Huw, it turns out that he 'liked' a Labour Party-supporting video on Twitter and was accused by a Conservative MP of "a lapse" in impartiality. Huw's explanation - see below - was that he thought he was 'liking' a pro-NHS tweet...and hadn't watched the video to its end, where the pro-Labour/anti-Conservative stuff appeared (for which he apologises)!
Yeah I liked a tweet which seemed to be a celebration of our wonderful @nhs —apologies for not watching right to the end. But apologise for supporting the NHS? Never. EXCLUSIVE — my family owes it a huge debt. https://t.co/mr2xu0y0oc— Huw Edwards (@huwbbc) December 5, 2019
It wasn't just "a" tweet, it was a tweet put up by the GMB, and clearly labelled us such (with the GMB logo part of the video). The GMB is a founder member of the Labour Party and currently its third largest member organisation.
ReplyDeleteAre we supposed to believe that Huw Edwards given his wealth of experience in political news (he was previously a Parliamentary Correspondent, and so must have been aware of GMB-sponsored MPs) didn't understand that this was a highly partisan tweet in the middle of an election campaign?
The BBC has had the "Wear It In, Don't Wear It Out campaign" going for a few years now.
ReplyDeleteStrange how a much loved institution fears for it's own staff safety should they be publicly identified.