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Naga Munchetty | BBC DG Overturns Ruling

BBC Backs Down (September 2019)

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JW
JamesWorldNews
London Lite posted:
BFGArmy posted:
Have to say it’s not a good look too for the Beeb hauling Naga over hot coals but continuing to allow the likes of Isabel Oakshott and Brendan O’Neill to appear time and time again whose contributions to the Brexit debate are far from insightful or helpful. The optics of it are terrible.
That said goodness knows why Sky continue to book both as well.


It's a difficult one. I find the views of the hard right repugnant, but those views do represent a percentage of licence payers who'd expect to be represented. However, there's a fine line and Brendan on Politics Live today went past that.


Yeah, what was all that about?? Even the other studio guests were disgusted by Brendan’s comments.

It seems the Munchetty story was also covered extensively today on Victoria Derbyshire. I only saw the guests comment on the matter, not the anchor’s line of questioning, sadly.
JC
JCB
To suggest the BBC must be seen to be "neutral" about racism is absolutely ludicrous. Calling racism racism does not set you on a slippery slope to Fox News town.

JamesWorldNews posted:
Notably, Naga is maintaining a very dignified silence. Brava! Good on her.


Well she hasn't been given much choice has she. Rolling Eyes

Also, Alistair Stewart has been convicted for drunk driving TWICE so I'm not sure he's entitled to lecture others on the rights and wrongs of anything.
BF
BFGArmy
London Lite posted:
BFGArmy posted:
Have to say it’s not a good look too for the Beeb hauling Naga over hot coals but continuing to allow the likes of Isabel Oakshott and Brendan O’Neill to appear time and time again whose contributions to the Brexit debate are far from insightful or helpful. The optics of it are terrible.
That said goodness knows why Sky continue to book both as well.


It's a difficult one. I find the views of the hard right repugnant, but those views do represent a percentage of licence payers who'd expect to be represented. However, there's a fine line and Brendan on Politics Live today went past that.


I don’t expect to agree with every guest the Beeb have on (and I do feel some on sites like Twitter do just expect BBC to represent only their view) but my issue is more that even if I disagree guests they should be there to at least add intellectually to the debate/conversation and the likes of Oakeshott and O’Neill don’t at best (and harm it arguably). Surely it can’t be that hard for the bookers at the Beeb to find better contributors.
What is the point in a national broadcaster if not to provide better, more intellectual output than commercial alternatives? There are hardly a lack of media organisations/media sites that use the likes of O'Neill, Oakeshott.
MO
Mouseboy33
From the Open letter in the Guardian to the BBC: You can’t be ‘impartial’ about racism :
Racism is not a valid opinion on which an “impartial” stance can or should be maintained;

IMO this looks really bad for the BBC. The optics are horrible. This woman of colour is speaking to her own experience of racism and IMO she is "basically" told to shut up about about the racism and then the corporation hides behind their guidelines after one complaint is lodged. For one complaint to spark this big of outrage, IMO speaks volumes about the powers that be at the BBC. Sure you have frontline and some high level people of colour likely because of diversity targets and all that. I know people like to think the Beeb is infallible, but it seems to me, that the room in which the decision was made to censure Naga, probably isnt/wasnt as diverse as we'd like to think otherwise if would have been handled much differently.
[Steps off soapbox, turns off light and closes door]
Last edited by Mouseboy33 on 27 September 2019 5:34pm - 4 times in total
MA
Markymark
BFGArmy posted:
Markymark posted:
davidhorman posted:
It's not like the presenters on Breakfast never give their opinion about anything . If a story came up about, I don't know, rubbish collection, no-one would bat an eye if Dan said he was annoyed about overflowing bins on his street. But it then crosses a rather fuzzily-defined line, I feel, if he was to then say "Such-and-such council aren't doing their job properly." I think Naga's comments were somewhere inbetween the two.

I use rubbish collection as an example but the same would still apply to a more serious topic.

So I think it's pretty reductive for Andrew Marr and Alistair Stewart simply to say "No views!"


I do find it odd that on Twitter it's easy to gauge the political allegiance of some presenters and reporters. That does rather colour my opinion when I see them on TV reporting on something I'm afraid, I can't 'un remember' what they think. Sorry; but the disclaimer; 'Opinions are my own' on their profile page is utterly pointless. If they are in a public facing day job working for a broadcaster who claims to be 'un biased' then they shouldn't be presenting their own views in another public domain


It depends on the nature of the topic they're talking about I feel. If it's sport or entertainment or similar I don't see a huge problem with a presenter giving their personal view on social media. If presenter X thinks a certain film should win Best Picture at the Oscars there's no harm in them sharing that view. But obviously when it's a more sensitive subject like politics I agree that presenters should try to be careful what they post online.


Yes, it's politics that's the problem. It's not a social media age problem per se. John Simpson has had a column in the in flight BA magazine for years, but it's carefully written, and his opinions expressed are of a suitable nature
DV
DVB Cornwall
Developments tonight ....

Thread (I detect a change of tone, if not conclusion)





New statement BBC Executive Committee on @BBCNaga
(thread)
“You will have heard a lot of comment over the past few days about the BBC and the reporting of racism.
The BBC is not impartial on racism. Racism is not an opinion and it is not a matter of debate. Racism is racism.

Naga Munchetty - one of our stars - was completely within her rights to speak about the tweets of Donald Trump which have been widely condemned as racist.

We completely back her in saying “as a woman of colour, to go back where I came from, that was embedded in racism”.

BBC Executive Committee: “The very limited finding was not about Naga’s comments on racism. That part of the complaint was rejected.
“Diversity matters hugely. The success of the BBC is built on the quality and diversity of our people. That is not negotiable.”
Last edited by DVB Cornwall on 27 September 2019 5:55pm
Custard56 and London Lite gave kudos
CU
Custard56
Does anyone know whether she was presenting Breakfast today?
MF
Matthew_Fieldhouse
Jay Lee posted:
Does anyone know whether she was presenting Breakfast today?

Yep, alongside Jon Kay
RN
Rolling News
This story has been covered across the day on BBC News bulletins as well as the News Channel, and quite extensively on Victoria Derbyshire. I hazard a guess it wasn't mentioned on Breakfast?
MF
Matthew_Fieldhouse
Rolling News posted:
This story has been covered across the day on BBC News bulletins as well as the News Channel, and quite extensively on Victoria Derbyshire. I hazard a guess it wasn't mentioned on Breakfast?

No mention according to quick scroll through on iPlayer
NE
Newsroom
Give it up.

Naga is too savvy and has too much etiquette to comment on this, and there (in exactly how she's behaving, you have her thoughts and feelings) She feels zero remorse, as she shouldn't.

It'll be wind up the skirts of the upper echelons of the BBC if they are forced to retract. She has IMMENSE support.
Lou Scannon, AJB39 and JamesWorldNews gave kudos
NL
Ne1L C
Naga is absolutely right to say what she thinks about this. Journalists are humans as well and they have feelings. For her as a lady of colour who has been subjected to racial abuse she is better placed then a lot of people to comment. The BBC heirarchy have been cowards in criticizing her.

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