See the BBC flail
The Guardian Live on the BBC v Gary Lineker:
Gary Lineker’s suspension from the BBC has been followed by dozens of presenters, pundits and contributors withdrawing from BBC duties this weekend.
As the corporation attempted to find a replacement host for Match of the Day on Friday, pundits Ian Wright and Alan Shearer announced they were pulling out of the show in solidarity.
Match of the Day is still due to air tonight, but without a presenter, pundits or commentators.
For My Fellow Americans: Gary Lineker is a former footballer turned BBC Match of the Day host; the BBC suspended him for tweets critical of Tory policy on refugees. People are lining up to point out the many examples of people who work for the BBC and say pro-Tory things in public with no murmur from the bosses.
Back to Guardian Live:
Roger Mosey, a former head of BBC TV News, has said the Lineker row highlights how BBC chairman Richard Sharp has damaged the corporation’s credibility and called for him to stand down.
In January, the Sunday Times reported that, before being appointed to the job by former prime minister Boris Johnson, Sharp helped Johnson secure an £800,000 [loan?]. The revelations have led to widespread questions about his suitability for the role.
More “we can do it but you can’t”:
Tom Peck, a columnist for the Independent, points out that Karren Brady, who appears as an adviser to Alan Sugar on BBC show The Apprentice, also sits as a Conservative member of the House of Lords.
Peck says Brady’s votes as a member of the chamber are “arguably of more consequence than a tweet”.
Lineker’s suspension was sparked by a tweet in which he said a government plan to effectively ban anyone who arrives in the UK illegally from claiming asylum had been expressed in “language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s”.
Commenting on Peck’s tweet, Guardian columnist Marina Hyde suggests that every time Brady “votes in favour of their legislation, government ministers should demand she [be] sacked by the BBC”.
The BBC should issue a statement saying it’s coming out as trans so please respect its pronouns.
Wow, it sounds like there’s a lot of multi-level political turbulence at the Beeb. At the top we’ve got soft-peddling of climate science and pushback on criticism of immigration policy, while until quite recently, it seemed to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Trans Inc., where men were women and women were…people (maybe). I got the impression that trans wokeness was ebbing at the BBC, but I didn’t know they were going the Full Tory. I certainly wouldn’t mind if the former were to happen at the CBC, but under our Tories, it’s more likely to be defunded and privatized than reformed. They’ve had it out for the CBC for decades. On the back of trans “rights” reporting (or non-reporting), they would have a stronger hand to play in our version of the Culture Wars. Thanks, trans-captured CBC!
I’m not really a sports guy, but this sounds like a massive improvement to me. One of the biggest irritants to me on the rare occasion I watch a sport is the constant nattering to fill air time. Except in cricket, which is so slow it needs a bit of banter.