The BBC’s dispute with the sports commentator, former footballer Gary Lineker, is still reverberating, and accusations of political bias on the part of the British public broadcaster are getting louder.
The BBC’s reporting on football is severely limited today due to the dispute with Lineker, as other journalists and commentators have also come to the defense of the footballer. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed hope that the dispute would be “resolved in due course” and the BBC front man is open to the possibility of Lineker’s return to the airwaves.
Lineker, regarded as one of Britain’s greatest ever strikers, has been stripped of hosting Match of the Day by the BBC after he compared the language used by the British government to present its new asylum policy to the rhetoric of Nazi Germany.
Former BBC boss Greg Dyke assessed after Lineker’s removal that the BBC appeared to have “bowed to government pressure”. With this, he further intensified the controversy regarding the alleged bias of this media house, which critics accuse of acting on the instructions of conservative politicians.
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt told Sky News today that he did not agree with Lineker’s statements, but that it was not his business, but the BBC and its director general’s By Tim Davie.
“It is such an important national institution and we all value it so much precisely because its impartiality is valued. We must ensure that confidence in the impartiality of the BBC is restored,” he said.
Proud of the old man after a busy few days. Shouldn’t need to apologize for being a good person and standing by his word. The reaction of the public has been overwhelming. Thanks for the support pic.twitter.com/lCdsGk3li1
— George Lineker (@GeorgeLineker) March 12, 2023
The BBC’s programming schedule is chaotic
The decision to withdraw Lineker from the program caused chaos in the BBC’s coverage. His colleagues, including a former football player Ian Wright and Alan Shearer have canceled further participation in the Match of the Day show. As a result, the longest-running football TV show in the world was broadcast for the first time in history without a presenter, guests and commentary, and in a shorter, 20-minute version.
In addition, the programs Football Focus and Final Score were pulled from the program due to the protest of the creators, and the radio broadcast of the matches on BBC Radio 5 was also disrupted. The Women’s Football Super League match between Chelsea and Manchester United was broadcast without BBC commentary.
Asked if Lineker would resign as a result of the incident, Davie said “absolutely not”. “To be clear, it will be a success for me when Gary is back on the air and we can once again offer audiences the first-class coverage that we unfortunately cannot provide today,” he said.
Lineker did not want to comment on the matter today. His son George Lineker however, he told the Daily Mirror newspaper that the father is ready to take over the show again, but will “never bend”.
After that, he tweeted that he was proud of his father and that he should not apologize for it because he is a good person and stands by his word.
No Attenborough for fear of ‘right-wing pogrom’
But Lineker’s case is not the only one for which critics have recently accused the BBC of pandering to conservative political currents. Their decision this week not to broadcast an episode of the legendary British naturalist’s new series also resonates strongly David Attenborough over fears they would be targeted by the Tories and the right-wing media for the “touchy-feely” topics of nature destruction, the Guardian reports.
The decision has also upset editors and some other BBC employees, who fear the network has buckled under pressure from lobby groups with “dinosaur views”. The BBC vehemently denies this is true and insists the episode in question was never intended to be broadcast.
Attenborough’s highly anticipated new documentary series, Wild Isles, explores the unspoiled beauty of the British Isles. The series is narrated by 96-year-old David Attenborough, as usual, and is expected to be a huge hit.
Five episodes are set to be given prime time slots in the BBC’s programming schedule, with the aforementioned “controversial” sixth episode set to offer a grim look at how much wildlife has been lost in Britain and what has caused those losses. The episode is said to include some examples of re-naturalization, a concept considered controversial in some right-wing circles, the Guardian writes.
Source: Rtvslo
