BBC response to Newsnight complaint

[wejammin]

"Thank you for contacting us regarding Newsnight on October 10.

We realise you felt it was not appropriate to have Sophie Cook as the sole guest in the section on the Wellcome Collection’s recent treatment of inclusive language.

Sophie Cook was invited to speak as a writer and broadcaster, with experience on the topic of inclusive language. Newsnight welcomes a variety of views and representatives over time. While some may not like what they hear or who offers the opinion, it’s important to consider all perspectives in due time. A broad range of contributors are regularly involved in our items on gender and inclusivity.

Some viewers have expressed concern over her comments on including women of colour, however at this point Sophie was referring to another alternative spelling - ‘womyn’ – and how this was seen by some females to be elitist and exclusive, not ‘women’.

We hope this explains our approach - we appreciate your feedback.

Audience reaction can inform our ongoing work and we value the time you've taken to get in touch."

So. That's alright then

Yup. Had exactly the same response this morning.

That's an appalling response.

“We really don’t care”

Diverse views? It was 2 Kiddle

FFS, it was 2 middle class white men talking about which words women are allowed to use to describe themselves. Diverse? My arse...

But middle aged white men identifying as whatever they want IS diversity these days.

Apart from anything else the bit about women of colour makes no sense

Escalate the complaint!

I don't even understand the response to be honest. I need to escalate it I think, does anyone have any experience of this? Is it very time consuming? (Am 39 weeks pregnant)

Yes, escalate.

From here:

What if I’m dissatisfied with the BBC's reply?

Please contact us in writing and explain why, either online or by post within 20 working days and quoting your case number. We’ll reply again, this time usually within 20 working days.

If you remain dissatisfied you may be able escalate to the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) at stage 2. If so we’ll tell you how. For full information please read the BBC Complaints Framework.

Escalations and Ofcom:

If you remain dissatisfied after completing the stages within the BBC, there may be a right of appeal to the regulator Ofcom. In the case of TV Licensing complaints this is to an independent ombudsman.

Ofcom will not normally accept a complaint until it has been fully considered by the BBC except if your complaint is about alleged unfairness to you or infringement of your privacy. These issues can be considered first either by Ofcom or the BBC but not by both simultaneously. For more details please visit Ofcom's website.

I've taken a banking complaint through to ombudsman level. It was long and drawn out but each stage was not too time consuming.

Thanks @pencilsinspace

Did everyone who complained get the same response?

This is from the BBC complaints framework (PDF linked on the above page):

The BBC’s response at Stage 1a
The BBC aims to reply within 10 working days of receipt of your complaint though some complaints may take longer than others to investigate.

If the BBC receives a number of complaints about the same issue, it may:

• compile a summary of the range of issues raised;
• consider them together across the full range of issues identified;
• send the same response to everyone and/or publish it on the BBC’s complaints website.

These steps may be applied by the BBC at each stage of the Procedure.

Escalate. I'm going to escalate my complaint about Woman's Hour, once it comes back with a namby pamby reply like that.

I got the exact same response this morning too.

My complaint also included a chunk about how poor the piece was overall with Mark Urban not appearing to have done any prior research. Not sure how that is addressed in the response?

I got the same response to - tempted to reply with a translation as per Nicksname....

I find it hard to argue with as I just think bullocks and can’t break it down. Do think that I’m not afraid of different views just that we aren’t getting different views just one.

I got the same response, word for word.

Yes, identical.

I am considering taking it further for the condescending tone alone!

But I was going to look and see how many GC women had been included at any point, and trans, etc etc etc. And then ask what timeframe they are/were working to in the days immediately prior to the consultation ending?

... and breathe...

I got the same response.