BBC controversies
Encyclopedia
The following subjects reflect some of the controversial issues in which the BBC has become involved.
Brief history
One of the first controversial issues in which the BBC became involved was over the question of funding and the control of programming. In the United States radio broadcasting had already developed to the point that there were "listeners-in" within the British broadcasting region, prior to any broadcasting service being licensed by the British government through the General Post Office – GPO.As a result of these technical and social developments, in 1922 the British Government forced all of the British electrical companies and any American subsidiaries doing business in Britain into a single cartel and monopoly which it called the British Broadcasting Company
British Broadcasting Company
The British Broadcasting Company Ltd was a British commercial company formed on 18 October 1922 by British and American electrical companies doing business in the United Kingdom and licensed by the British General Post Office...
Ltd. This arrangement lasted until January 1927 when the present British Broadcasting Corporation was given its first Royal Charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
to act as a cultural and information entity.
One Show dog training controversy (Jordan Shelley)
On 15 September 2011 The One ShowThe One Show
The One Show is a topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One and BBC One HD, hosted by Alex Jones and Matt Baker. Chris Evans joins Jones to present the programme on Friday...
presenters introduced a "new member of the One Show family", the dog trainer Jordan Shelley. The following day, Jordan was shown treating a problem of food guarding in a Jack Russell Terrier called Roxy. Only confrontational methods were used, and at the end of the segment Alex Jones
Alex Jones (presenter)
Charlotte Alexandra "Alex" Jones is a Welsh television presenter, from Ammanford, best known for co-presenting BBC's The One Show since August 2010.-Early life:...
remarked that "some people out there might argue that some of your techniques were a little aggressive". According to an article in the Daily Mail, the BBC quickly received over 400 complaints about the methods used by Jordan Shelley. The Daily Mail article was followed by an article on the Daily Telegraph website , saying "Jordan Shelley doesn't seem to have any formal training or qualifications, and I’ve been unable to track down any evidence of his experience. High profile television programmes have a responsibility to ensure that advice given out is consistent with current best practice: The One Show’s dog training segment certainly does not do this". The Kennel Club published a statement criticising the training methods used in the programme on its website , as did the Dogs Trust
Dogs Trust
Dogs Trust, formerly known as the National Canine Defence League, is an animal welfare charity and humane society in the United Kingdom which specialises in the wellbeing of dogs. The charity rehabilitates and finds new homes for dogs which have been abandoned or given up by their owners...
. On the blog of Beverley Cuddy, editor of Dog's Today magazine, the RSPCA
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a charity in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. In 2009 the RSPCA investigated 141,280 cruelty complaints and collected and rescued 135,293 animals...
was reported to have issued a statement indicating that they were investigating the situation, with a view to prosecution "We are investigating several complaints received following an item featured on The One Show on Friday, 16 September. However, because that investigation is now active we cannot comment further on this specific instance" . This is not the first time that The One Show has been in conflict with the RSPCA. In 2010 they were criticised for deliberately taunting a nesting swan to attack in order to film its behaviour for a feature . The BBC dismissed criticism of Jordan Shelley's spot on the programme, saying "Roxy’s owners were happy with the outcome and that he (Jordan Shelley) would display other techniques in future programmes". This has led to speculations about the connection between Jordan Shelley and the BBC . In 2010 Jordan Shelley and Brian Klein (a current director of BBC's Top Gear programme ) became co-directors of Wobbly Dog Productions Ltd . Top Gear shares shares facilities with the The One Show at the BBC. One of Mr Klein's companies, On The Box Productions Ltd , was the production company responsible for Jeremy Clarkson's series of entertainment DVD spinoffs from his work on Top Gear . "On The Box" was contracted for the item by The One Show . It appears that The One Show appearances are part of a plan, backed by a BBC employee who also has his own production company, to launch a lucrative media career for Jordan Shelley. Company records also indicate that Jordan Shelley's previous occupation was as co-director of a cleaning company called Jordans Cleaners Ltd that is now dissolved . In a follow up programme, aired on 21st September 2011, Catherine Gillie (field director of the Dogs Trust) and Joe Inglis
Joe Inglis
Joe Inglis is a veterinary surgeon in the United Kingdom. Inglis is well known for his appearances on television, advising viewers on pet issues.-Professional career:Inglis qualified from Bristol University to be a vet in 1996....
MRCVS both strongly criticised the training methods used by Jordan Shelley. However, video of Catherine Gillie's statements was deliberately inter-cut with responses to her criticism from Jordan Shelley, allowing him to challenge her without her being able to respond. Matt Baker
Matt Baker
Matthew James Baker is an English television presenter who co-hosts the Monday-Thursday editions of BBC One's The One Show and co-presents Countryfile on the same channel.-Early life:...
made a comment that appeared to distance the show's connection with Jordan, saying "we should have made it clear that he was someone whose work we were following on the show, rather than The One Show dog trainer as such" . At the end of the feature Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
was overheard to say "good on you Joe, I agree with you" . Immediately after the show on the 21st September, the BBC press office released a statement; "The One Show has thanked viewers for all their comments and criticisms which were taken very seriously. Last night the show featured various differing opinions plus advice from The One Show's vet on the subject of dog training and care. There are currently no plans for this feature to return."
Fake Story About Dog Sentenced to Death by Stoning in Israel
The BBC News website featured a story claiming that a dog had been sentenced to death by stoning by an Israeli court. It later transpired that the story was untrue. The BBC published a retraction and a denial.Fake Child Labour Footage in Bangalore
The BBC's 50-year-old flagship weekly current affairs programme PanoramaPanorama (TV series)
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
had aired a documentary claiming that Bangalore-based suppliers of Primark
Primark
Primark is a clothing retailer, operating over 223 stores in Ireland , the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Belgium...
, a hugely successful retailer with 220 stores across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, were using child labour in their production in 2008. Primark could review its decision to cancel contracts. The claim has been found to be untrue and the BBC has apologized to Primark admitting mistake. Responding to Primark's protest, the BBC conceded in a 49-page report that footage of three boys engaged in completing garments for Primark was "more likely than not" to have been "not genuine" after a three-year internal inquiry.
2011: Top Gear comments on Mexico
On 30 January 2011, the BBC broadcast an episode of the British motoring TV show Top Gear during which presenters referred to Mexicans as both "lazy" and "feckless" and Mexican food as "refried sick". One of the presenters also expressed doubt that there would be any complaints against them as, he alleged, the Mexican ambassador would be asleep. The broadcast caused many complaints in Mexico, including in newspapers and websites, while a motion of censure was considered in the Mexican senate and the BBC Spanish-language website BBC MundoBBC Mundo
BBC Mundo is part of the BBC World Service's foreign language output, one of 33 languages it provides.- History :The BBC Mundo was broadcasting between 14 March 1938 and 25th February 2011...
received protests. British MPs described the comments as "ignorant, derogatory and racist" and called on the BBC to say it was sorry. Mexico's ambassador in London also requested that the BBC say it was sorry for the "offensive, xenophobic and humiliating" comments. The legal firm who previously pursued the media in the Shilpa Shetty
Shilpa Shetty
Shilpa Shetty is an Indian film actress and model. Since making her debut in the film Baazigar , she has appeared in nearly 40 Bollywood, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films, her first leading role being in the 1994 Aag. Although she has been through years of decline during her career, Shetty has been...
case involving comments in Big Brother
Big Brother (UK)
Big Brother UK is the British version of the Dutch Big Brother television format, which takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four...
have engaged clients for the case. The BBC then offered an apology, though claimed there was no "vindictiveness" in the remarks and that they were just part of the stereotype-based comedy the organisation espoused, such as when it "make[s] jokes about the Italians being disorganised and over dramatic, the French being arrogant and the Germans being over-organised". Trevor Phillips
Trevor Phillips
Trevor Phillips OBE chairs the Equality and Human Rights Commission and is a former television executive and presenter...
, head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission told the Sunday Times that he was "not going to get hot under the collar about schoolboy provocation which frankly is organised so that we can get into a ruck and sell more DVDs for Jeremy Clarkson - Jeremy is rich enough."
2010-2011: QI and Tsutomu Yamaguchi
In December 2010, the BBC broadcast an episode of its TV quiz show QIQI
QI is a British comedy panel game television quiz show created and co-produced by John Lloyd, hosted by Stephen Fry, and featuring permanent panellist Alan Davies. Most of the questions are extremely obscure, making it unlikely that the correct answer will be given...
in which panellists joked about Tsutomu Yamaguchi
Tsutomu Yamaguchi
, was a Japanese national who survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings during World War II. Although at least 160 people are known to have been affected by both bombings, he is the only person to have been officially recognized by the government of Japan as surviving both...
, who survived both atomic bomb attacks on Japan
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
, carried out by the United States on the cities of Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
and Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
in August 1945. Yamaguchi had died only earlier that year. The Japanese embassy in London wrote a letter of complaint to the BBC about the content of its quiz show after being alerted to the offensive content when viewers in Japan contacted diplomatic staff. Yamaguchi's daughter also made known how upset she was as a result of the comments broadcast on the BBC. She said that Britain, as a nuclear power, had no right to "look down" on her father. In January 2011, the BBC issued an apology for "any offence caused" to Japan by the incident, belatedly recognising "the sensitivity of the subject matter for Japanese viewers". In February 2011, the BBC blamed a "strength of feeling" in Japan following its atomic bomb joke broadcast for the cancellation of the filming of part of its Planet Word documentary in Japan. The documentary was due to be presented by Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, the host of QI.
2007–2011: Accusations of ageism and sexism
The BBC was accused of ageism and sexism when news presenter Moira StuartMoira Stuart
Moira Clare Ruby Stuart OBE is a British journalist who was the first African-Caribbean female newsreader on British television...
(55) - the first black female newsreader on television - was sacked in April 2007 after two decades of presenting, despite male presenters in similar situations being allowed to continue in their jobs.
In 2010 research revealed that 20% of the presenters and actors on BBC One were over 50, compared with 34% of the population as a whole.
In November 2008, four female Countryfile
Countryfile
Countryfile is a British magazine-style television programme produced by BBC Birmingham, first aired on 24th July 1988, which reports on rural and environmental issues within the United Kingdom. For its first 20 years it was fronted by broadcaster John Craven, until he stepped back from the role of...
presenters (Michaela Strachan
Michaela Strachan
Michaela Evelyn Ann Strachan is an English television presenter.-Personal life:Strachan attended Claremont Fan Court School, Esher, a Christian Science school. Later, while at college, she briefly held jobs as an Avon lady and as a kissogram...
, Charlotte Smith, Miriam O'Reilly
Miriam O'Reilly
Miriam O'Reilly is a television presenter, best known as a former presenter on the BBC One rural affairs show Countryfile.-Early life and career:...
and Juliet Morris
Juliet Morris
-Early life:Morris was educated at Lady Eleanor Holles School, an independent school for girls in Hampton in West London, where she recalled the difficulties of being left-handed. At the age of eleven, she moved to a convent when her family settled in Devon...
), all in their 40s and 50s, were dismissed from the show.
Further controversy came in July 2009, when former theatre Choreographer Arlene Phillips
Arlene Phillips
Arlene Phillips OBE is an English choreographer, theatre director, talent scout, TV presenter, TV judge and former dancer, who has worked in many fields of entertainment...
(66) was replaced on the Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
panel by Alesha Dixon
Alesha Dixon
Alesha Anjanette Dixon is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model and television personality. She first found fame in the all-female R&B trio Mis-Teeq, however, the trio separated in 2005 and Dixon continued pursuing her music career as a solo artist, signing to Polydor Records...
, a pop-star half her age.
The males on the show were Len Goodman
Len Goodman
Leonard Gordon 'Len' Goodman is a British professional ballroom dancer, dance judge, and coach. He is a leading personality on television dance programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing with the Stars and runs a ballroom dance school in Dartford, Kent.-Early life and career:Goodman was...
(65), Bruno Tonioli
Bruno Tonioli
Bruno Tonioli is an Italian choreographer and TV personality who appears as a judge on the television dance competition Strictly Come Dancing for BBC TV in the UK, and its American adaptation Dancing with the Stars on ABC TV in the US, Tonioli co-created and appeared on the BBC talent show DanceX...
(53), Craig Revel Horwood
Craig Revel Horwood
Craig Revel Horwood is an Australian-British dancer, choreographer, and theatre director in the United Kingdom.-Biography:...
(44), and Bruce Forsyth
Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson, CBE , commonly known as Bruce Forsyth, or Brucie, is an English TV personality...
(81).
Former Countryfile presenter Miriam O'Reilly claimed she was 'warned about wrinkles',
and successfully won an employment tribunal against the Corporation on the grounds of ageism and victimisation - but not sexism.
With other older women also dropped by the BBC, Joan Bakewell claimed the BBC's policy was 'damaging the position of older women in society', whilst former Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell
Menzies Campbell
Sir Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell, CBE, QC, MP is a British Liberal Democrat politician and advocate, and a retired sprinter. He is the Member of Parliament for North East Fife, and was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2 March 2006 until 15 October 2007.Campbell held the British record...
said that the BBC was obsessed with youth culture and was shallow thinking.
2010: Weapons claims offend Bob Geldof, Ethiopia and Africa
In March 2010 Bob GeldofBob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...
confronted Andrew Marr
Andrew Marr
Andrew William Stevenson Marr is a Scottish journalist and political commentator. He edited The Independent for two years until May 1998, and was political editor of BBC News from 2000 until 2005....
on a BBC report claiming the Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n government used money raised for the famine to pay for weapons. Geldof and the Band Aid Trust reported the BBC to Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
over the incident. Development agency Christian Aid
Christian Aid
Christian Aid is the official relief and development agency of 40 British and Irish churches and works to support sustainable development, alleviate poverty, support civil society and provide disaster relief in South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and Asia...
announced it too would make a complaint to the BBC Trust. The Ethiopian ambassador to the UK Berhanu Kebede
Berhanu Kebede
Berhanu Kebede is the current ambassador of Ethiopia to the United Kingdom. He was appointed in March 2006.Berhanu Kebede was born in Addis Ababa. He graduated in 1978 with a degree in economics from Addis Ababa University and continued his studies at the Free University of Brussels, earning M.A...
called it a "disgrace" and a "ridiculous report" and said the BBC had "destroyed its credibility in Africa" by making such claims. Geldof said it would be a "tragedy" if British people refused to donate money due to the BBC claims. The BBC initially announced that it was standing by its report and claimed to have evidence to back up its stance. The BBC was forced to broadcast a series of apologies in November 2010 after realising that it had in fact not enough evidence that any money was spent on weapons, basing much of the unfounded claims on a CIA report it had failed to question. It also apologised to Geldof for claiming that he had refused to respond to its fabricated story, with Geldof saying that much damage had been caused by the BBC to charity campaigns. Mr. Geldof also said "appalling damage" had been caused to the Band Aid Trust by the BBC.
2009: BNP Question Time appearance
Following the improved performance of the far right British National PartyBritish National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
in the 2009 European elections, the BBC controversially changed their stance on the appearance of the BNP on their flagship current affairs talk show, Question Time
Question Time (TV series)
Question Time is a topical debate BBC television programme in the United Kingdom, based on Any Questions?. The show typically features politicians from at least the three major political parties as well as other public figures who answer questions put to them by the audience...
, and invited their leader Nick Griffin
Nick Griffin
Nicholas John "Nick" Griffin is a British politician, chairman of the British National Party and Member of the European Parliament for North West England....
to appear in 22 October 2009 edition. They also showed a promotional video which they claimed was shown because of obligation to showing all the parties promotional material.
2009: Gaza DEC Appeal
On 22 January 2009, the BBC declined a request from the Disasters Emergency CommitteeDisasters Emergency Committee
The Disasters Emergency Committee is an umbrella group comprising fourteen UK charities. These charities are all associated with disaster related issues such as providing clean water, humanitarian aid and medical care....
(DEC) to screen an aid appeal intended to raise money to aid the relief effort following the recent hostilities
2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
The Gaza War, known as Operation Cast Lead in Israel and as the Gaza Massacre in the Arab world, was a three-week bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israel, and hundreds of rocket attacks on south of Israel which...
in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
. They explained that this was due to doubts about the possibility of delivering aid in a volatile situation and also to avoid any risk of compromising public confidence in the BBC's impartiality in the context of an ongoing news. Requests from DEC to broadcast appeals are usually considered in consultation with all other UK TV broadcasters, and require consensus to proceed. Because of a lack of consensus to do so, the other TV channels in the UK initially decided not broadcast the appeal, however ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
and Five eventually showed it on 26 January, while British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....
announced that it would not broadcast it. The BBC did broadcast substantial extracts from the appeal in its TV news programmes.
The BBC's decision came in for widespread criticism from senior politicians such as Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg
Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...
, Douglas Alexander
Douglas Alexander
Douglas Garven Alexander is a British Labour Party politician, who is currently the Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in the shadow cabinet of Ed Miliband. He has held cabinet posts under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, including Secretary of State for Scotland and...
and Hazel Blears
Hazel Blears
Hazel Anne Blears is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Salford and Eccles since 2010 and was previously the MP for Salford since 1997...
and other public figures including the Archbishops of York and Canterbury. A public demonstration occurred outside Broadcasting House on 24 January. Former cabinet minister Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
attacked the decision in an interview on BBC News 24 during which he read out the appeal address, and said that the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i government was preventing the appeal from being broadcast. Richard Burden
Richard Burden
Richard Burden is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield since 1992. Together with close friend and fellow ex-Young Liberal Peter Hain M.P., he was an enthusiastic supporter of the ill-fated Alternative Vote system in the May 2011...
MP put forward an early day motion
Early day motion
An Early Day Motion , in the Westminster system, is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by Members of Parliament for debate "on an early day" . Controversial EDMs are not signed by Government Ministers, PPS or the Speaker of the House of Commons and very few are debated on the floor...
calling on the BBC to screen the appeal which received the support of 120 MPs. Meanwhile, another Labour MP, Gerald Kaufman
Gerald Kaufman
Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman is a British Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 1970, first for Manchester Ardwick, and then subsequently for Manchester Gorton...
, complained of about "nasty pressure" on the BBC from Israeli lobbyists. However, Mark Thompson
Mark Thompson
Mark John Thompson is Director-General of the BBC, a post he has held since 2004, and a former chief executive of Channel 4...
, the Director-General of the BBC
Director-General of the BBC
The Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation is chief executive and editor-in-chief of the BBC.The position was formerly appointed by the Board of Governors of the BBC and is now appointed by the BBC Trust....
, denied that the decision was due to Israeli pressure. Complaints to the BBC about the decision were directed to Mark Thompson's blog. BBC's Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
programme reported that the BBC had received over 15,000 complaints as well as 200 letters of support. The BBC Trust reported in its 'Decision of the BBC Trust' document on the appeal that, 'the BBC Executive had received about 40,000 complaints about the Director General's decision'. The Guardian reported that the BBC faced a revolt from its journalists over the issue, and that they had been threatened with dismissal if they spoke out.
2008: The Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row
In a show recorded on 16 October 2008 and broadcast two days later, Brand made several phone calls, along with guest Jonathan RossJonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross may refer to:* Jonathan Ross , English television and radio personality* Jonathan Ross , United States Senator, Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court* Jonathon Ross , former Australian rules footballer...
, to actor Andrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs is a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and is best known for his portrayals of Manuel in Fawlty Towers, a role for which he was BAFTA-nominated, and Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street.-Early life:Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Katharina , a...
' home, claiming that Brand had sexual relations with his granddaughter Georgina Baillie, along with further apparently lewd suggestions. Later coverage in the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
newspaper led to number of complaints, and ultimately Ross left the broadcaster.
September 2007: The Blue Peter cat
When the children's programme Blue Peter acquired a pet cat in January 2007, it held an internet vote to choose a name for the animal. In September of that year, it was revealed that viewers had selected the name CookieCookie
In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat, baked treat, usually containing fat, flour, eggs and sugar. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have...
, but producers changed the result to Socks instead, leading to accusations of breach of audience trust. A fulsome apology to viewers was subsequently made on the programme.
July 2007: "A Year with the Queen"
In early 2007 the BBC commissioned RDF Media to make a behind-the-scenes film about the monarchy, titled Monarchy: The Royal Family at WorkMonarchy: The Royal Family at Work
Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work is a fly on the wall documentary TV series made by the BBC and RDF Media which follows the British Royal Family over the course of a year...
, for BBC One. A sixty second trailer was shown at the BBC1 autumn launch in London on 11 July. The trailer showed two clips of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; one in which she tells photographer Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz
Anna-Lou "Annie" Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer.-Early life and education:Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, Leibovitz is the third of six children. She is a third-generation American whose great-grandparents were Jewish immigrants, from Central and Eastern Europe. Her father's...
that she will not remove her crown to make the scene look "less dressy", and another in which The Queen says "I'm not changing anything. I've done enough dressing like this". The shots in the trailer were edited out of order, making it appear as if The Queen had abruptly left the photoshoot, when in fact, the second shot showed her entering the shoot. BBC 1 Controller Peter Fincham
Peter Fincham
Peter Fincham is a British television producer and executive, currently the Director of Television for the ITV network. He was also formerly the Controller of BBC One, the primary television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation, until his resignation on 5 October 2007, following...
told journalists at the launch that it showed the monarch "losing it a bit and walking out in a huff".
The next day national newspapers and other media sources broke headlines stating that The Queen had stormed out during the session. On 12 July, the BBC released a formal apology to both The Queen and Annie Leibovitz. On 16 July, RDF Media admitted it was "guilty of a serious error of judgement". Thereafter, both Peter Fincham, the BBC 1 Controller and chief creative officer of RDF Media
RDF Media
Zodiak Media is a Anglo-American television production company. It was formed in 2010 when RDF Media Group was acquired by, and merged with Zodiak Entertainment...
, Stephen Lambert
Stephen Lambert (media executive)
Stephen Lambert is an English television producer and executive. He is best known for creating and launching international hit formats such as the award-winning Wife Swap, Faking It, Secret Millionaire, and Undercover Boss...
resigned.
On 10 October 2007 the BBC released its investigation into the incident.
March 2007: BBC Jam
In 2006 the BBC launched a free educational website for children, BBC JamBBC Jam
BBC Jam was an online educational service launched by the BBC in January 2006, and suspended on 20 March 2007. The service was available free across the United Kingdom offering multi-media educational resources...
, which cost £150 million. Following complaints by a number of commercial suppliers of educational software that the BBC was engaging in anti-competitive practices
Anti-competitive practices
Anti-competitive practices are business or government practices that prevent or reduce competition in a market .- Anti-competitive practices :These can include:...
by providing this service for free, the BBC Trust announced that the website would be suspended pending a review. The following year it was decided that the service would not be relaunched and it was closed permanently.
March 2007: Blue Peter phone-in
A phone-in competition supporting Unicef, held by the children's programme Blue PeterBlue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
in November 2006, was revealed to have been rigged. The winning caller in the competition was actually a visitor to the set who pretended to be calling from an outside line to select a prize. The competition was rigged due to a technical problem with receiving the calls. The controversy was the beginning of a wider controversy in which a number of other broadcasters were fined for faking telephone competitions.
2004–2007: Balen Report
The BBC fought to overturn a ruling by the Information Tribunal that the BBC was wrong to refuse to release to a member of the public under the Freedom of Information Act of 2000 (FOI) the Balen report on its Middle East coverage. The report examines the BBC's coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict.The corporation was reported to have spent £200,000 on fighting the case and was accused by commentators of wasting licence fee payers' money. Critics called the BBC's blocking an FOI request "shameful hypocrisy" in light of the corporation's previous extensive use of FOI requests in its journalism.
On Friday 27 April 2007 The High Court rejected Mr Steven Sugar's challenge to the Information Commissioner's decision. However on 11 February 2009 the House of Lords (the UK's highest court) reinstated the Information Tribunal's decision to allow Mr Sugar's appeal against the Information Commissioner's decision. The matter goes back to the High Court for determination of the BBC's further appeal on a point of law against the Tribunal's decision.
The BBC's press release following the High Court judgement included the following statement:
"The BBC's action in this case had nothing to do with the fact that the Balen report was about the Middle East – the same approach would have been taken whatever area of news output was covered."
Mr Sugar was reported after his success in the House of Lords as saying:
"It is sad that the BBC felt it necessary to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money fighting for three years to try to load the system against those requesting information from it. I am very pleased that the House of Lords has ruled that such obvious unfairness is not the result of the Act."
Steven Sugar died of cancer in January 2011, and it remains unclear what will happen with the legal battle. There is the possibility of someone picking up the case on Mr. Sugar's behalf. The Supreme Court says it has listed the case provisionally for another hearing in Autumn 2011.
2004: Butler Report
A second inquiry by Lord Butler of BrockwellRobin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell
Frederick Edward Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell, is a retired British civil servant, now sitting in the House of Lords as a Life Peer.-Life:Butler was born in Lytham St Annes on on 3 January, 1938...
did review the intelligence on weapons of mass destruction and the production of the dossier. Amongst other things, the Butler Report concluded that:
... the fact that the reference [to the 45 minute claim] in the classified assessment was repeated in the dossier later led to suspicions that it had been included because of its eye-catching character.
Andrew Gilligan claims that the Butler Report vindicated his original story that the dossier had been "sexed up".
2004: Hutton Report
The publication in January 2004 of the Hutton Report into Dr Kelly's death was extremely critical of Andrew Gilligan, and of the Corporation's management processes and standards of journalism. In the aftermath, both the Chairman of the BBC Gavyn DaviesGavyn Davies
Gavyn Davies, OBE was the chairman of the BBC from 2001 until 2004, a former Goldman Sachs banker and a former economic advisor to the British Government...
and the Director-General Greg Dyke
Greg Dyke
Gregory "Greg" Dyke is a British media executive, journalist and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing 'tabloid' television to British broadcasting, and reviving the ratings of TV-am...
resigned, followed by Gilligan himself. Lord Hutton was accused of failing to take account of the imperfections inherent in journalism, while giving the Government the benefit of the doubt over its own conduct. Large parts of the media branded it a whitewash
Whitewash (censorship)
To whitewash is a metaphor meaning to gloss over or cover up vices, crimes or scandals or to exonerate by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data. It is especially used in the context of corporations, governments or other organizations.- Etymology :Its first...
.
2003: Death of Dr David Kelly
In May 2003, the defence correspondent of the BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
Today programme
Today programme
Today is BBC Radio 4's long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, now broadcast from 6.00 am to 9.00 am Monday to Friday, and 7.00 am to 9.00 am on Saturdays. It is also the most popular programme on Radio 4 and one of the BBC's most popular programmes across its radio networks...
, Andrew Gilligan
Andrew Gilligan
Andrew Paul Gilligan is a British journalist best known for a 2003 report on BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme in which he said a British government briefing paper on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction had been 'sexed up', a claim that ultimately led to a public inquiry that criticised Gilligan...
, quoted a government official who stated that the British Government had "sexed up" a dossier concerning weapons of mass destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
in Iraq, against the wishes of the intelligence services. A newspaper report claimed that Alastair Campbell
Alastair Campbell
Alastair John Campbell is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Director of Communications and Strategy for Prime Minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003, having first started working for Blair in 1994...
(the Prime Minister's Director of Communications and Strategy), was responsible. The British Government strongly denied the claims and this prompted an investigation by Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
.
A Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
scientist, Dr David Kelly, was named as the alleged source of the news item, which led to official sources suggesting that Dr Kelly wasn't a credible source. The subsequent suicide of Dr Kelly resulted in an escalation of the conflict between the government and the BBC, during which both sides received severe criticism for their roles in the matter.
October 1998: Richard Bacon cocaine controversy
On 18 October 1998, a presenter of the children's television programme Blue PeterBlue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
Richard Bacon was in the headlines when it emerged he had taken cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. He was released from his BBC contract immediately.
1988-1994: Sinn Féin broadcast ban
On 19 October 1988, ToryTory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
Douglas Hurd
Douglas Hurd
Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, CH, CBE, PC , is a British Conservative politician and novelist, who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major between 1979 and his retirement in 1995....
under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
issued a notice under clause 13(4) of the BBC Licence and Agreement to the BBC and under section 29(3) of the Broadcasting Act 1981
Broadcasting Act 1981
The Broadcasting Act 1981 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The effect of the Act was to consolidate the previous Independent Broadcasting Acts 1973, 1974 and 1978 and the Broadcasting Act 1980. The Act was repealed by the Broadcasting Act 1990...
to the Independent Broadcasting Authority
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
prohibiting the broadcast of direct statements by representatives or supporters of 11 Irish political and military organizations. The ban lasted until 1994, and denied the UK news media the right to broadcast the voices, though not the words, of all Irish republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
and Loyalist paramilitaries, while the ban was targeted primarily at Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
.
Government intimidation and laws before the ban had already resulted in forms of self-censorship
Self-censorship
Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own work , out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities of others, without overt pressure from any specific party or institution of authority...
. An INLA
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army or INLA is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group that was formed on 8 December 1974. Its goal is to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a socialist united Ireland....
interview in July 1979 on BBC's Tonight caused a controversy involving Prime Minister Thatcher and was the last time such an interview was heard on British television. The 1980 Panorama film of the IRA on patrol in Carrickmore
Carrickmore
Carrickmore is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies in the heart of the county on an raised site colloquially called "The Rock"; between Cookstown, Dungannon and Omagh. It had a population of 612 in the 2001 Census.-History:...
was seized by police under the Prevention of Terrorism Acts following an outcry in parliament and the press. In 1985 an edition of BBC's Real Lives was pulled under government pressure.
Coverage of Sinn Féin by the BBC before the ban was minimal. In 1988 Sinn Féin was only heard or seen on television 93 times, had only 17 of the 633 formal BBC interviews as compared to 121 interviews with the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and 172 with the Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
and the civil service, and were never interviewed in the studio like many other participants. However, after the ban there was a steep decline in coverage of Sinn Féin and Republican viewpoints, with television appearances being reduced to 34 times in the following year, and the delays and uncertainties caused by ambiguities, voice-overs and subtitles often lead to coverage and films being dropped entirely.
To allow the continuation of news reporting on the subject, during a time when 'The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
' in Northern Ireland were a matter of great importance and interest, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
used actors to speak Adams' words. The net effect of the ban was to increase publicity.
1987: Sacked director general controversy
On 29 January 1987 Alasdair MilneAlasdair Milne
Alasdair David Gordon Milne is a former BBC producer who became Controller of BBC Scotland, the BBC's Director of Programmes and then Director-General of the BBC in July 1982. His resignation was forced by the BBC Governors in January 1987, following pressure from the Thatcher government...
was sacked by the newly appointed Chairman of the BBC Board of Governors, Marmaduke Hussey. He was replaced by a senior BBC accountant, Michael Checkland
Michael Checkland
Sir Michael Checkland was Director-General of the BBC from 1987 to 1992, having been appointed after the forced resignation of Alasdair Milne.- Early life :...
. Milne later wrote his account of this affair in The Memoirs of a British Broadcaster.
1986: Censorship controversy
In 1986 BBC journalists went on strike to protest against police raids in search of evidence that a BBC television series in production, Secret Society, had endangered national security. The police searched the BBC studios in GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland, the London home of investigative journalist Duncan Campbell
Duncan Campbell (investigative journalist)
Duncan Campbell is a British freelance investigative journalist, author and television producer who, since 1975, has specialised in the subjects of intelligence and security services, defence, policing, civil liberties and, latterly, computer forensics. He was a staff writer at the New Statesman...
, and the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
offices.
On 12 June 1985, the Controller of BBC2
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
Graeme MacDonald
Graeme MacDonald
Graeme MacDonald was a British television producer and executive....
, was offered a series of documentaries by the BBC studios in Scotland in conjunction with an offer to them by Duncan Campbell whose work had previously appeared in the New Statesman magazine. The programmes were six half-hour films by Duncan Campbell (researched and presented by Campbell and produced according to BBC standards), which illuminated "hidden truths of major public concern". The six programmes were:
- One: The Secret Constitution about a small, secret CabinetCabinet (government)A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
committee that was in reality the Establishment that ruled the United Kingdom. - Two: In Time of Crisis about secret preparations for war that began in 1982 within every NATO country. This programme revealed what Britain would do.
- Three: A Gap In Our Defences about bungling defence manufacturers and incompetent military planners who have botched every new radarRadarRadar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
system that Britain has installed since World War II. - Four: We're All Data Now about the Data Protection Act 1984Data Protection Act 1984The Data Protection Act 1998 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament which defines UK law on the processing of data on identifiable living people. It is the main piece of legislation that governs the protection of personal data in the UK...
. - Five: Still in production about the Association of Chief Police OfficersAssociation of Chief Police OfficersThe Association of Chief Police Officers , established in 1948, is a private limited company that leads the development of policing practice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.ACPO provides a forum for chief police officers to share ideas and coordinates the strategic...
and how Government policy and actions are determined in the fields of law and order. - Six: Still in production about communications with particular reference to satellites.
Work began on the series. In April 1986 Alan Protheroe, acting on behalf of BBC Director General Alasdair Milne
Alasdair Milne
Alasdair David Gordon Milne is a former BBC producer who became Controller of BBC Scotland, the BBC's Director of Programmes and then Director-General of the BBC in July 1982. His resignation was forced by the BBC Governors in January 1987, following pressure from the Thatcher government...
was asked for permission to bug
Covert listening device
A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, is a common technique in surveillance, espionage and in police investigations.A bug does not have to be a device...
a private detective who said he could access a Criminal Records Office computer. Permission was granted and filming took place. The police were informed and the man was subsequently charged under Section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911
Official Secrets Act 1911
The Official Secrets Act 1911 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaces the Official Secrets Act 1889....
.
The sixth programme would have revealed details of a top secret spy satellite and Alisdair Milne had already decided to cut it from the line-up when the Observer newspaper broke the story on 18 January 1987 with the headline: "BBC GAG on £500M DEFENCE SECRET". Combined with this story was a report that the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
intended to restrict the broadcast receiver licence
Television licence
A television licence is an official licence required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts...
fee, the implication being that the Government had decided to censor BBC investigative journalism.
Soon afterwards, a series of programmes on BBC Radio Four called My Country Right or Wrong was banned by the Government because it might have revealed sensitive secrets. The series was censored only a few hours before it was due to start because it dealt with similar issues to the television series concerning the British "secret state". However, it was eventually broadcast uncut, after the Government decided that it did not breach any laws or interfere with national security.
1986: Libyan raid controversy
The Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Chairman Norman Tebbit
Norman Tebbit
Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, CH, PC , is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1981 to 1987 as Secretary of State for Employment...
, with the help of an academic lawyer, assembled a dossier of the BBC's coverage of the American bombing raid on Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
in which he claimed that the reporting was heavily biased against the Americans. The BBC rejected these findings.
1984: Maggie's Militant Tendency controversy
The BBC programme Panorama on 30 January 1984 broadcast Maggie's Militant Tendency which claimed that several ConservativeConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MPs had links to far-right organisations both in Britain and on the Continent. Two of the MPs named, Neil Hamilton
Neil Hamilton (politician)
Mostyn Neil Hamilton is a former British barrister, teacher and Conservative MP. Since losing his seat in 1997 and leaving politics, Hamilton and his wife Christine have become media celebrities...
and Gerald Howarth
Gerald Howarth
James Gerald Douglas Howarth known as Gerald Howarth is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for Aldershot since 1997, having been the MP for Cannock and Burntwood from 1983 to 1992....
, sued the BBC for slander. In 1986 after the BBC withdrew from the case Hamilton was awarded £20,000 damages
Damages
In law, damages is an award, typically of money, to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury; grammatically, it is a singular noun, not plural.- Compensatory damages :...
.
1970: Jamming controversy
In the 1970s pirate radio reappeared on a well financed offshore station only to be jammed by the British Government using high-powered military transmitters with the help of the BBC. The station effected a change during a General Election and the winning political party continued the jamming policy of its predecessor in power.1960s: Offshore radio controversy
In the 1960s BBC Radio once more began to lose its audience to commercial radio, just as it had prior to World War II. This time the causes of the competition were offshore pirate radioPirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
stations. The British Government reacted by rendering the stations as illegal by passing the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act
Marine Broadcasting Offences Act
The Marine, &c., Broadcasting Act 1967 c.41, shortened to Marine Broadcasting Offences Act, became law in the United Kingdom at midnight on Monday, August 14, 1967 and was repealed by the...
, 1967, which made it an offence for British citizens to work on the pirate ships, or to advertise on them. Many pirate radio DJs eventually transferred to the new BBC Radio One service, which started on 30 September 1967.
1950s: Claimed involvement in Operation Ajax
A BBC Radio 4 documentary in 2005 claimed that it had evidence that a radio newsreader inserted the word "exactly" into a midnight timecheck one summer night in 1953, a code word to the Shah of IranShah
Shāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...
that Britain supported his plans for a coup
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
. The shah had selected the word, the documentary said, and the BBC broadcast the word at the request of the government. Officially, the BBC has never acknowledged the code word plot. The BBC spokesman declined to comment on a possible connection.
1950s: Independent television controversy
In the 1950s Sir Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
retaliated against the BBC because of his treatment at the hands of Sir John Reith who had banned him from the BBC airwaves prior to World War II. Lord Moran
Lord Moran
Charles McMoran Wilson, 1st Baron Moran, MC is most famous for being Sir Winston Churchill's personal physician....
(Sir Charles Watson), recorded that Churchill denounced the BBC as a communist operation which resulted in Churchill leading the campaign to introduce commercial television into the UK.
1940s: American Armed Forces controversy
During World War II the introduction of American Armed Forces Radio programming on to the airwaves within the United Kingdom caused controversy by the tone and style of its broadcasts. It was very popular and continued to supply the kind of entertainment once provided by the pre-war commercial stations. The BBC was forced to absorb some of this cultural programming against the wishes of its original Director General who had left the employment of the BBC.1930s: Commercial radio controversy
Because the BBC had become both a monopoly and a non-commercial entity, it soon faced controversial competition from British subjects who were operating leased transmitters on the continent of Europe before World War II, to blast commercial radio programmes into the British Isles. John ReithJohn Reith
John Reith may refer to:*John Reith, 1st Baron Reith , Scottish broadcasting executive*John Reith...
who had been given powers to dictate the cultural output of the BBC retaliated by leading the opposition to these commercial stations. Controversy spilled over into the press when the British government attempted to censor the printing of their programme information. The pressure was created by the success of these stations. By 1938 on Sundays, it was reported that 80% of the British audience was tuning in to commercial radio, rather than the non-commercial BBC.
1930s to Cold War: MI5 vetting
From the late 1930s until the end of the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
had an officer at the BBC vetting editorial applicants. During World War II 'subversives', particularly suspected communists such as the folksinger Ewan MacColl
Ewan MacColl
Ewan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...
, were banned from the BBC. The personnel records of anyone suspicious were stamped with a distinctively shaped green tag, or 'Christmas tree
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
'; only a handful of BBC personnel staff knew what the 'Christmas trees' meant.
See also Wikipedia entries for Ronnie Stonham
Ronnie Stonham
Brigadier Ronnie Stonham was the Special Assistant to the Director of Personnel at the BBC until 1985 who was caught up in the scandal over MI5 monitoring of potential staff. He occupied Room 105 at Broadcasting House in London, UK from 1982, following his departure from the Army, until October...
and Michael Rosen
Michael Rosen
Michael Wayne Rosen is a broadcaster, children's novelist and poet and the author of 140 books. He was appointed as the fifth Children's Laureate in June 2007, succeeding Jacqueline Wilson, and held this honour until 2009....
.
See also
- Criticism of the BBCCriticism of the BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation has been criticized for various reasons, by the British government of the day, as well as from other political groups and various media outlets.-Iraq and the Hutton Inquiry :...
- The War GameThe War GameThe War Game is a 1965 television documentary-style drama depicting the effects of nuclear war on Britain. Written, directed, and produced by Peter Watkins for the BBC's The Wednesday Play anthology series, it caused dismay within the BBC and in government and was withdrawn from television...
- Fox News Channel controversiesFox News Channel controversiesCritics of Fox News Channel have accused the network of having a bias favoring the political right and the Republican Party. Fox News has publicly denied such charges, stating that the reporters in the newsroom provide separate, neutral reporting....
- CNN controversies
- CBS controversies
- Press TV controversiesPress TV controversiesPress TV has been the subject of several controversies.-Controversy:The UK newspaper The Guardian described Press TV as "the controversial 24-hour news channel funded by the Iranian government."...
External links
- The BBC Under Pressure – A history of controversial incidents through BBC News history.