Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker has been rebuked for tweeting about political issues by a senior BBC journalist who told him that the broadcaster “lives or dies by its impartiality”. The Times has more (although Guido first broke the story).
Neil Henderson, a home and foreign news editor, asked the Match of the Day presenter on Twitter why he has the freedom to express his views on a wide range of contentious subjects.
Henderson, who is known for tweeting the front pages of newspapers under the tagline “tomorrow’s papers today”, said that if he did the same as Lineker “I’d be sacked”.
In a series of now-deleted tweets Henderson responded directly to Lineker’s tweet, which criticised Conservative MPs who voted against imposing a legal duty on water companies to reduce sewage discharges.
“Do you have the freedom to tweet about this sort of thing because you have a different contract to mine? Because if so I’d be sacked,” Henderson wrote. “Does our duty of impartiality apply across the BBC?”
Henderson added: “The BBC lives or dies by its impartiality. If you can’t abide by it, get off it.”
In response, Lineker, 61, who was last year’s highest-paid BBC presenter earning £1.35 million, said he was able to air his views because he does not work in news and current affairs. He also said he was freelance so was subject to different rules.
The BBC editorial guidelines for all staff notes that the “external activities and public comments, for example on social media, of staff, presenters and others who contribute to our output can also affect perceptions of BBC impartiality”.
Specifically, in the section on social media it says those outside news are not bound by all the same restrictions but says individuals “must still avoid bringing the BBC into disrepute”.
In one of his first acts as Director-General Tim Davie, when asked specifically about Lineker’s tweets, told MPs clear social media guidelines covering “both news and current affairs and beyond news and current affairs” would mean anyone in breach of these could be removed from Twitter or face disciplinary action.
Over to you Director-General.
Worth reading in full.
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BBC impartiality – lol
Not that I follow any BBC programme but the sacking of Lineker would certainly provide a massive boost to the morale of the nation in these unpleasant times.
Lineker has ridden the golden donkey for far too long and his contempt for his audience is breathtakingly blatant – remember the mask spat? He is a tedious, odious, money-grabbing Next Tuesday Warrior and should receive his second and final ‘order of the boot.’
No damned pay-off. This creep has sucked on the public teat for too long and too greedily.
Will he be missed? For a couple of days perhaps and then it will be, “who he?”
Get SHUT!
Probably the most self-satisfied, biggest virtue signalling pr*ck in the world (sounds like a 21sr century Carlsberg ad). Lineker IS the BBC.
The outcome of this spat could be hilarious as we watch while Lineker is forced to consider the fact that he might actually be wrong about something… it’s entirely possible that his head could explode.
More chance of getting my wife to admit she’s wrong.
In 30 years she’s made just one mistake. She thought she’d messed something up, but it turned out later that she hadn’t.
Very similar. Mr Lemming: “you’ve bought another pair of shoes, surely you don’t need any more?”. Mrs Lemming: “it’s because you said I have too many pairs of shoes that I don’t wear!”.
😀 😀
Second that.
I’ve never met anyone who valued Lineker’s opinion on football, let alone ‘real-world matters’.
I just don’t understand why he’s employed at all.
If I wanted to chat through the problem of direct discharge of sewage (which I understand many nations do to some extent), then he wouldn’t be my first point of call. In fact I would refer him to the great WC Fields, who famously said the reason he drank alcohol and not water was that ‘fish fuck in it’.
It is lamentable that Gary’s stance on illegal immigrants means that there are 10million more people using our sewers each day than there were 30 years ago. I’m pretty sure we haven’t dramatically increased capacity for processing the waste, so what are we to do, present it on the television at 10.30 on a Saturday night..?
Please someone give the BBC it’s death blow, put it out of it’s own misery.
The BBC brings the BBC into disrepute.
And Lineker’s a tw*t.
And Henderson needs to learn the difference between its and it’s. Also, more to the point, that he’s out of place at the BBC if he wants to do journalism – because these days the BBC only pushes propaganda – medico-fascism, climate change twaddle and wokeness. Previously, it did sometimes also report on news and current affairs.
BBC Impartiality is a flippin’ mirage!
I’m sure there’s about 10% of the old guard still there, but even 30 years ago it was full of socialist ninnies. The only reason they got great C-ops, directors and producers back then was because they paid well over the industry standard.
That’s now changed, and look at the reduction in quality programming. the only thing I listen/watch on the BEEB now is BBC 6 music from 6:15 until 7am. Even then the news broadcasts and blatant lies make me wince…but I do like ‘names in songs’ plus the ‘Awesome Seg’ on that show…
However, I’m on the verge of cancelling my license fee. Any anecdotes about cancelling it? What happened? etc etc?
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