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Original poster

What is going on at the BBC right now?

979 replies

LookItsMeAgain · 10/03/2023 17:42

What with the news breaking today ( 10/03/23) that Lineker is to step back from presenting Match of the Day and now Ian Wright is also not going to appear on the show in solidarity. They also have said that they will not air a David Attenborough (what the hell did he do/say that pushed their buttons) episode due to fears of a right-wing backlash. On top of that, Fiona Bruce has said that Stanley Johnson 'only' broke his wife's nose once (I mean just how many times is too many, I ask ye).

What the hell is going on at the BBC right now????

Sources:
David Attenborough being cancelled
Gary Lineker stepping back from MotD
Ian Wright standing by Gary
Fiona Bruce story

Just wondering if anyone can make sense of what is going on in the BBC at the moment.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
JaneJeffer · 10/03/2023 17:48

"Lord Attenborough’s highly anticipated new series, Wild Isles, looks at the beauty of nature in the British Isles."
The Guardian better watch out as well 😬

Seriouslynonono · 10/03/2023 17:49

The BBC are scared of the truth. they're scared of having an opinion and anyone else that has one. They are idiots and definitely on the (I hate this phrase) 'wrong side of history.

Good for Gary Linekar, keep talking loud David Attenborough. Well done Ian Wright for standing up for truth. The BBC will find themselves devoid of talent if they keep running away and hiding like this. They need a spine.

TheFairyCaravan · 10/03/2023 17:50

That’s what comes when its being run by the best mates of Tory Ministers.

poorlychild · 10/03/2023 17:50

It's ridiculous their chair and CEO are so political and chair appointed by PM. Like China.

TooBigForMyBoots · 10/03/2023 17:50

TheFairyCaravan · 10/03/2023 17:50

That’s what comes when its being run by the best mates of Tory Ministers.

Yep.

MargotDeWitt · 10/03/2023 17:50

I don't agree that Fiona Bruce was minimising violence against women. It was probably said with a great deal of irony.

Dinopawus · 10/03/2023 17:51

Are they being as ridiculous as possible so that they can say look it doesn't matter and crack on as usual?

Let's try and guess what they will ban next. CBeebies for being ageist?

WinterMusings · 10/03/2023 17:52

It's ALL madness.

GL is a Sports Broadcaster & doesn't have the clause in his contract about being neutral. He can tweet what he wants. He has a really really high following, it's only going to damage the BBC, taking him off MOTD

DA can be quite scathing of Govts & their policies.

FB I did have to rewind & listen again BUT she is a BRILLIANT presenter & is an absolute star on Question Time, an absolute professional when many of us would have told people on the panel to STFU. I think in the context of the comment that made her say that and the pressure she'd been under for the hour prior to that, it was more just trying to correct the person that made the comment than her thinking his actions were ok because it was only once.

BBC need to think very carefully!

Not to mention the way the top bloke got his position there...

Cornettoninja · 10/03/2023 17:52

Richard Sharp and a government full of snowflake fascists who haven’t the skill nor intelligence to defend their actions with words.

VenAqui · 10/03/2023 17:52

They’re so scared about upsetting their Tory crones.
won’t show the final Attenborough episode because it’s about water pollution, want to slap Lineker’s wrist but Fiona Bruce is allowed to say whatever she wants to every week.

i fucking hate the beeb right now.

carriedout · 10/03/2023 17:53

TheFairyCaravan · 10/03/2023 17:50

That’s what comes when its being run by the best mates of Tory Ministers.

Yes this.

I wish this Tory government would just FUCK OFF, they have broken everything.

VenAqui · 10/03/2023 17:53

MargotDeWitt · 10/03/2023 17:50

I don't agree that Fiona Bruce was minimising violence against women. It was probably said with a great deal of irony.

Utter rubbish.

newnamethanks · 10/03/2023 17:53

Book burning next. How could anyone possibly compare present day UK with early 30s Germany? We need to wake up and get rid of these monsters before they come for you and me.

LlynTegid · 10/03/2023 17:54

I hope any replacement presenter for tomorrow night's Match of the Day has an important engagement or family matter that makes them unavailable.

Cornettoninja · 10/03/2023 17:54

First they came for the journalists - then no one had any idea what was going on and they cleared out everyone else.

(paraphrased from a recent film I saw and can’t remember the name of!)

Lonelycrab · 10/03/2023 17:54

This is precisely why I stopped paying my license fee years ago and stopped watching live tv.

The BBC used to be great. Yet another in the long list of things this government has destroyed.

evtheria · 10/03/2023 17:55

The argument is that DA episode was meant to be like an 'iPlayer only' bonus... BUT I think that's because they always knew they wouldn't even try to show it on tv. Too real, perhaps?

I grew up in a country where there wasn't really 'free speech' - certainly not any form of criticism against the monarch or gov whatsoever, unless whispered behind closed doors at dinner parties, and the tv channels (before we had access to foreign cable) were run by the state. Things are feeling quite familiar...

PlateBilledDuckyPerson · 10/03/2023 17:55

I think the BBC is on its last legs. So many people no longer pay for a TV Licence - quite legitimately because they don't watch live TV - that it's developed a major funding problem.

newnamethanks · 10/03/2023 17:58

Ps. If you live in Teddington, Thames Water received permission last week to ditch shit from Mogden sewage works into the Thames in your area. So no wild swimming for you.

MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 10/03/2023 17:58

poorlychild · 10/03/2023 17:50

It's ridiculous their chair and CEO are so political and chair appointed by PM. Like China.

Yes. Difficult to stand up for impartiality when the appointment process is so obviously political. Especially when the current Chair failed to fully declare his involvement in the former PM's financial affairs at the time of his appointment. Has he been involved in this decision-making process, I wonder? I would like some transparent answers on this.

Good for Gary Lineker for standing his ground and being prepared to step back from his role in order to speak the truth.

It comes to something when even David Attenborough is being censored.

notsosoftanymore · 10/03/2023 17:59

Thanks for sharing those links, the UK is slowly sliding towards an authoritarian/Tory/right wing dictatorship. The defensiveness in the article about DA was sickening, in the Guardian of course, I wonder where else this has been publicised in an honest way.

Makes me sad and frightened.

Lonelycrab · 10/03/2023 18:03

Good to see Ian Wright standing down in solidarity too.

Pandor · 10/03/2023 18:06

The BBC has to show impartiality - so having a presenter who to many people appears to be a “voice of the BBC” criticising government policy is clearly very problematic.

They are being put in a position (as often happens) where no matter what they do there will be a group on social screaming about what a total disgrace they are.

Such is life in our politically polarised times.

lipstickwoman · 10/03/2023 18:09

Gary Lineker's profile gives him a voice. Fair play to him for using it.

Whether of not you agree with his opinion, I do admire his willingness to speak out.

MarnieSQ · 10/03/2023 18:09

Very scary stuff. BBC being bought by Tory money.

How will we ever hear both sides of a story?

Having had dealings with an MP and a government minister this week, they are inaccurate in their announcements and are shaping messages to fit their own agenda. Shocking to see in practice.

Appalling.