Mick Hartley

A former BBC staffer writes for SEENinJournalism about the appointment of trans-friendly Matt Brittin as the new BBC DG.

Cards on the table: I want the BBC to survive and thrive. I worked there for decades and there are many, highly professional people still there, who do their best every day to hold the line for public service broadcasting.

And that’s why so much rests on the appointment of the new DG. It’s also why I’m alarmed about the coronation of Matt Brittin….

What should be stories about crime, education, medical treatment, law, and sport are still either ignored, tiptoed round or misrepresented for fear of the fury of internal and external trans activists. If you want to look for yourself, check out all the times BBC news stories refer to male people as though they were actually female. Even now, rapists, murderers, mass shooters, and deceased alleged child abusers are gifted with “she/her” pronouns because that’s what they wanted, copy is never historically changed, and that’s still in the BBC style guide. The impact of this isn’t just to insult the “lived experience” of the victims, but also to mislead the public. Which circles us back to trust.

As more than one person has said: if you’re prepared to tell a big, obvious lie for ideological reasons, what else are you being dishonest about? Yes, the style guide – used as a shield by the Complaints Unit to defend the indefensible – has been somewhat updated, but turning this tanker round is going to take time. The right captain is vital because the wrong one could be a disaster.

So Matt Brittin. He has he/him pronouns in his LinkedIn profile, which is not a good start. Joining in the catechism of the “be nice, not accurate” side doesn’t exactly scream Impartiality Champion. His effusive post in 2023 on “Transgender Awareness Week is another clue (not least because there’s no hint of awareness that there is any conflict of interests between this group of employees and, say, female ones).

As I understand it, to this day the BBC lets male staff use female loos and showers if they say the magic words. Given his trans celebration, whose side do we think Mr Brittin is on? Will he ignore the Supreme Court Ruling on the 2010 Equality Act? And if he doesn’t respect female staff, why would female licence payers trust him?