THESLIPPERYSLOPEOFIMPARTIALITY

Recent weeks have seen a row surrounding impartiality in public broadcasting erupt in England in response to a tweet made by Match of the Day presenter and former footballer, Gary Lineker, commenting on the language used by the British Government in relation to immigration In this tweet, responding to a video message by the British Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, relating to the prevention of people crossing the English Channel in small boats, Mr Lineker likened its language “to that of 1930s Germany”. Consequently, just days after the tweet, Lineker had been asked to step down from his duties in presenting Match of the Day for that coming weekend by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) The BBC’s reprimand of Lineker for a tweet on an issue of significant importance for him, personally, sparked considerable uproar

After the announcement of Lineker’s suspension by the BBC, his Match of the Day presenting colleagues, including former players Ian Wright, Micah Richards, Jermaine Jenas, Alex Scott, and Alan Shearer, quickly declared support for his actions, and stepped down from their roles on the show for that weekend Without any available presenters on March 11, the BBC were forced to alter the format of the infamous Match of the Day instalment A twenty-minute compilation of the goals scored in the Saturday Premier League matches was shown without the traditional recap of the important moments of each game by the presenters. Meanwhile, other football-related programmes including Final Score and Football Focus were also cancelled on the broadcasting service, as was Match of the Day 2 the next day because no presenters were available due to their boycott in solidarity with Lineker

Just two days later, the British broadcasting forum was forced to overturn their decision to suspend Gary Lineker Instead, they announced that he would return to his presenting duties for Match of the Day, the weekend after According to BBC director general, Tim Davie, “an independent review of BBC social media guidelines would be carried out”, and he denied it had backed out on the issue Nevertheless, this debacle certainly highlighted the slippery slope surrounding impartiality in public broadcasting Even though Lineker was suspended for what the BBC saw as him breaking impartiality guidelines, BBC guidelines themselves do not apply to his position at the broadcasting network. According to BreakingNews.ie, “Lineker is a freelance broadcaster for the BBC, not a permanent member of staff, and is not responsible for news or political content, so does not need to adhere to the same rules on impartiality” His tweet of criticism on the language towards immigration used by the British Government, therefore, was made in a personal capacity Lineker himself, has consistently utilised his Twitter account in the last number of years as a platform for speaking out on issues important to him, such as those surrounding immigration, and in these cases, no punishment was ever handed out to him

Even so, Lineker’s agent, Jon Holmes, suggested that Lineker thought he had a special agreement with Tim Davie on matters related to immigration and refugees In an article for the New Statesman, Mr Holmes stated that “Gary takes a passionate interest in refugees and immigration and, as he saw it, had a special agreement with Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, to tweet about these issues”. The slippery slope surrounding impartiality was illustrated by the BBC’s double standards when it employs impartiality rules on different matters Many have pointed to the role of the BBC chairman, Richard Sharp, in supporting Boris Johnson when he was British prime minister At a time when Sharp was applying for the position of BBC chairman, he was under investigation over his role in securing an £800,000 loan for Boris Johnson No further action has been taken against him so far despite calls within the broader public and from some MPs for his resignation

Others have also pointed towards tweets by Alan Sugar, businessman, and presenter of BBC show, The Apprentice, discouraging the public from voting for the Labour Party in the 2019 General Election Despite publicly backing Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party in that election, Sugar never faced any sanctions from the BBC, nor was he called upon to step down from presenting The Apprentice These multiple scenarios in which the BBC did not apply their vague social media guidelines paint a clear picture as to how and where they employ impartiality Other broadcasters have come under fire in recent days in England for their application of impartiality. In a fiery interview with general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers’ Union (RMT), Mick Lynch by presenter, Jayne Secker on Sky News, Mr Lynch accused Secker of being a ‘government mouthpiece’ This was after Secker accused Lynch of “striking your own way out of a job because you’re going to contribute to the railways becoming less popular, less reliable, [and] people are going to stop relying on the railways” Secker took offense with Lynch’s accusation of her being a ‘government mouthpiece’, and responded by saying that “I’m a journalist and I’m talking to you about conversations I’ve had with people I know”, which has got nothing to do with the government, she claimed

That interview continued a trend of increasing questions being raised against public broadcasting forums for their application of impartiality rules in Britain This comes in the wake of a declining role for public broadcasting, itself With the growth of the social media age, dominated by a Gen Z audience, the prominence of public broadcasting is arguably dwindling Whilst the public may have formerly relied upon traditional sources of media such as the BBC to avail of the latest news on a number of daily matters, this is no longer the case As a result, the events of the past few weeks give us, in Ireland, an important opportunity to reflect upon the role of traditional sources of media such as RTÉ and their place in providing public broadcasting and journalism

It also allows us to consider the importance of impartiality and its application in public broadcasting and journalism As I write my final piece as Deputy News Editor of University Express, impartiality is undoubtedly an important feature of public reporting and journalistic integrity The role of both broadcasting and journalism is to report on what happens, not what you subjectively believe in That goes for everyone, no matter where one resides However, whilst important, crucially, and ideally, it should be employed on a consistent basis without any evidence of unconscious bias or double standards The chaotic events in response to a tweet, made by Gary Lineker in a personal capacity, by the BBC were not ideal It spiralled an issue of credible importance to Lineker out of control, and opened many people’s eyes to the selective employment of standards by the British Broadcasting Corporation These accusations are only likely to further increase, unless the organisation carefully reviews how it enforces such rules on its broadcasters Events like these mean that it is essential for all public broadcasters, including RTÉ and Virgin Media News in Ireland, to maintain impartiality at all times, and learn from the lessons displayed by the BBC