The BBC is committed to achieving due impartiality in all its output. This commitment is fundamental to our reputation, our values and the trust of audiences. The term ‘due’ means that the impartiality must be adequate and appropriate to the output, taking account of the subject and nature of the content, the likely audience expectation and any signposting that may influence that expectation.
Here are two recent examples of the BBC’s violation of its charter.
First, their outrageous libelous report via BBC Four’s six o’clock news that Darren Grimes, a young conservative commentator and pro-Brexit campaigner, described his own website as “a safe space for racist and homophobic views.” In fact, this is the precise opposite of what Grimes had said. In a video promoting his channel, Reasoned UK, he asked: “Do you hide your political views for fear of being called homophonic, a TERF, racist?” In their correction acknowledging the error, the BBC then cited the LGBTQ+ activist news site Pink News. But why, if they are impartial, is this their main source?
Second, BBC Sounds recently ran a segment from the podcast No Country For Young Women, in which two young white women advised other white women on how “not [to] be Karens.” The list included: “read some books,” “try not to be defensive,” “be ready to think critically about your identity and your privilege,” “don’t be so loud,” “get of the way,” and “basically leave.” Er, isn’t telling women to shut up and get out of the way basically misogyny?