The BBC has defended its use of female pronouns to describe a male transgender killer who stabbed his partner to death with a samurai sword. The Telegraph has more.
Joanna Rowland-Stuart, who was born male and was known as John Stuart, attacked Andrew Rowland-Stuart at their Brighton home in 2024, in what a jury found was an unlawful killing.
The couple had married in a civil partnership but reporting on the court hearing earlier this year, BBC News headlined one story ‘Wife killed husband with samurai sword’ and began: “A woman killed her husband…”.
The BBC used the pronouns “she” and “her” throughout its coverage.
A number of people contacted the BBC to complain. One wrote: “Using female pronouns to refer to a man is not accurate.”
Another said: “The suspect is a man. When the public see the words ‘wife’ and ‘woman’ they will assume you mean an adult human female.”
However, the BBC rejected the complaints.
In a written response, the broadcaster’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) said: “The BBC recognises the debate around sex and gender identity involves deeply held and sometimes conflicting views. The BBC’s approach, therefore, is to use terminology which is clear and appropriate to the context.”
The ECU said the language had been appropriate because Rowland-Stuart was referred to as a woman throughout the trial.
Worth reading in full.
Discussion
Comments
This week across the site:
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to the Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
Shameless gaslighting and attempted coercive control of the public.
A man, who thinks he’s a woman, is mad enough to take a sword to his partner. Who could conceive such a thing… 🤷
Of course they did, it’s what the hard left BBC does. Do not fund the evil empire.
So, the BBC, that “independent” arbiter, ignores both law and biology, and focuses on ideology
Well if the courts can’t get the sex right, what chance do the rest of us (including the BBC) have?
I generally mix with normal people and so am not au fait with all this weirdo stuff. When two men or two women go through the sham of getting married, how do they work our who is ‘wife’ and who is ‘husband’ given that those terms refer to a woman married to a man?
“Calling Male Transgender Samurai Killer a Woman Was Accurate, Insists BBC”
Calling Male Transgender Samurai Killer a Woman Was a Deliberate Falsification of the Truth by a Woke Marxo-Fascist Propaganda Agency, Insists The Man Writing This Comment
“The ECU said the language had been appropriate because Rowland-Stuart was referred to as a woman throughout the trial.”
What a lame excuse – a big boy told me to do it.
“…Rowland-Stuart was referred to as a woman throughout the trial.” Is that the Franz Kafka Trial.
Good old Auntie – she won’t change her spots.
But seriously, useless bastards.
#defundthebbc
I wonder where this samurai killer will be jailed?
I don’t know, but if he really wants to stop being a man, there’s probably a very good use for that sword.
The BBC is helping to skew the crime stats such that the incidence in females committing murder, rapes, assaults are increasing. Its inversion of reality by an elite public funded class
If Reform plans on allowing single female illegal immigrants with or without children to remain in the UK guess what the men will do?
Magically transform into women for a guess!
But then won’t they have to walk 2 paces behind themselves and treat themselves as lesser citizens? Might be difficult!
It isn’t clear and appropriate to call a male murderer a woman. End of.
You would think that with all those Verify staff, they could get something right for once.
It’s never going to happen…
“Joanna Rowland-Stuart, who
was bornis male…”For crying out loud.
Saved me the trouble. I don’t mix in the right circles (or any circles really…) but woe betide any “journalist” who happens to be at a dinner party with me. They will regret talking to me! (I don’t do dinner parties but you get the idea).
To be accurate, he was born male and will die male – and no amount of hormone treatment, surgical mutilation and wishful thinking can ever change that.
To be even more accurate, he was conceived male. But really the “was” implies that this state may change, or has changed.
“The BBC’s approach, therefore, is to use terminology which is clear and appropriate to the context.” but regardless of how false it is?!