The BBC rules against their Gender and Identity Reporter

This is a rather cryptically-written ruling by the BBC's Executive Complaints Unit but it involves Megha Mohan, the BBC World Service Gender and Identity Reporter, and says she didn't comply with the BBC guidance that says, “Staff should also not post offensive or derogatory comments or content on social media and avoid abusing their position as a BBC employee in personal interactions”.

Obviously, the original tweet has gone but a quick scan of Twitter for Ms Wolstencroft's name shows that she was on the receiving end of an intensely aggressive Twitter pile-on by hardline trans activists. It looks as if Megha Mohan couldn't help but join in.

It's far from the first time her tweets have strayed from BBC impartiality.

 

Tweet by Megha Mohan

30 November 2021

Complaint

Megha Mohan, the BBC World Service Gender and Identity Reporter, posted a tweet sharing an online story from the BBC’s Washington Bureau about a transgender teenager, commenting on how well it had been edited but not soliciting ideas.  Edwina Wolstencroft, a former BBC Radio 3 Editor, responded with a different but related story idea, to which Ms Mohan replied in terms which implied criticism of Ms Wolstencroft’s relations with minority groups while at the BBC.  Ms Wolstencroft complained about what she considered a defamatory statement, and called attention to her award-winning record of promoting work by under-represented composers, including women and minority groups. 

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Outcome

The ECU cannot offer a view on legal questions such as defamation, which are for the courts to decide, but is tasked with making a judgement on whether the BBC’s editorial standards and the Guidelines and Guidance which express them have been complied with.  Accordingly, it considered the complaint in the light of the Guidance on Social Media, which says: “Staff should also not post offensive or derogatory comments or content on social media and avoid abusing their position as a BBC employee in personal interactions”.  In the ECU’s judgement, the tweet’s reference to Ms Wolstencroft’s alleged record at BBC did not comply with this Guidance.  Though the tweet was deleted within five days of being posted, the ECU considered that, in the absence of a further posting to explain why the original tweet had been deleted, this did not suffice to resolve the issue of complaint.

Upheld

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Further action

The finding was reported to the management of BBC World Service and discussed with Ms Mohan