James Kirkup on BBC reporting on trans prisoners

[Polynerd]

New piece from the wonderful James Kirkup in the Spectator on the BBC's reporting on trans prisoners. As an ex-journalist, I am utterly incensed by this. The 'Reality Check' team found a startling story in official data - that nearly half of trans prisoners are sex offenders - and buried it with obfuscation.
blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/08/is-the-bbc-scared-of-the-transgender-debate/
Please remember to respect James by not pasting in the full text - we need the Spectator to keep printing this stuff and they can't if they go bankrupt!

Good for James Kirkup.

The BBC is biased and unreliable when it comes to anything regarding trans issues.

That was excellent.

Aah. I saw he'd tweeted about this.

Good on you James

I don't know what to say about the BBC at the moment. The wokeness is painful

Well done James. I am astounded that the BBC keep coming out with
this rubbish.

thank you James Kirkup! it feels so good to read this piece of clear headed common sense. so so disappointed in the bbc. i used to love them and stick up for them and view them as a bastion of goodness. a lot of my heroes have fallen this last year.

I might print out a few copies of his articles and paste them on the inside of doors in public loos.

Excellent. He hints at more to come too.
James
bet he learned darvo here, i did

Sounds like he is suggesting a female prisoner is pursuing legal action.

Bestsy i didnt read it as that but it makes sense, thanks.

Thanks James, for again writing honestly about this issue.

Every article you write makes me want to cry with relief and gratitude that there are still journalists who have the courage and integrity to speak the truth even in the face of intimidation.

Thank you.

I've been worrying for a while about what fact-checking organisations such as BBC Reality, the C4 version, or even Full Fact will do when they're faced with the need to cover some of the stories.

What language will they use? How will they report the statistics?

God, I love James Kirkup, and an excellent article as always, but I’m afraid I don’t believe it is a case of the BBC not being brave enough. I think they’re deliberately trying to obfuscate the issue.

Thanks again James.

Fabulous piece. Thank you, James!

My only quibble is I wish he'd mentioned Jane Fae's background as a campaigner for hardcore woman-hating pornography, which would have put their remarks in some context. But I appreciate there isn't always space.

stillathing: "so so disappointed in the bbc. i used to love them and stick up for them and view them as a bastion of goodness. a lot of my heroes have fallen this last year."

Same here. I really admire the BBC and am always defending the organisation against attacks from right and left. But by god, they make it hard sometimes. You really would think after Savile that they would have the sense not to be giving fuel to those people who say they don't care about the victims of sexual abuse.

Thank you again James.

Thank you from me too James

I read that the BBC is over represented by Transwomen. I would like to know what positions they hold in light of this report and the way the BBC behaved over JS.

Yet another good piece of writing from James.
Sadly the BBC's mission to inform, educate and entertain falls sadly short in terms of transgender issues where it is more a case of misinform, misrepresent and ignore facts. Even the bloody Guardian has had to start telling everyone real facts about this and it's high time that the BBC remembered that it's meant to be an ethical source of information, not the trans propaganda machine.

I just read it - it's absolutely fantastic. The BBC should be very ashamed. I am curious now as to what the court action is that he's referring to.

James - heartfelt thanks for your unstinting efforts to open up the debate on this issue & holding other news outlets to account. It’s really important work that you are doing.

is the court action not the "seven inch surprise" person who's name I can't remember? I'm sure there was something going on there?

Thank you so much James. I'm agog to hear more about this bit

For the avoidance of doubt, I’m not pretending to be neutral here: I think that concern is a valid one and I’m not convinced current prison policy has sufficient regard for the wellbeing of female prisoners in this context. (There’s more to come on this issue, incidentally, but much of it is subject to court action and can’t yet be reported. But I think there are some awkward questions coming for prison chiefs and politicians alike, in due course.)

Yay James! He even got a mention of DARVO in there.

And by the way, BBC, did you know that Jane Fae is a campaigner against the criminalisation of extreme porn? Do you think a person that campaigns against some types of sex offending being regarded as crimes should be asked to comment on sex offending transgender prisoners without mentioning this background?

Absolutely excellent reporting. Thank you, James! I loved the coverage of the trans prison issue, and really appreciated how many times the article managed to incorporate the fact that Cllr Murray called women "absolute c*s". I look forward to reading more!