[Football] Gary Lineker to step back from presenting MOTD

[Titanic]

Gary Lineker to step back from presenting MOTD

Gary Lineker to step back from presenting Match of the Day until agreement reached on social media use - BBC statement

www.bbc.co.uk

Gary Lineker is to step back from presenting Match of the Day until an agreement is reached on his social media use - BBC statement.
It follows an impartiality row over comments he made criticising the government's new asylum policy.
In a tweet, the presenter had compared the language used by the government to set out its plan to "that used by Germany in the 30s".

 

[arfer guinness]

I haven't read all 56 pages so please forgive if I am repeating anyone. Lineker is entitled to an opinion as we all are. However, his mistake was to compare the UK government to one of the most vile regimes in history, this was out of order. On the plus side, I usually record MOTD and watch it later to fast forward through all the "experts" Long may their boycott carry on and we can all watch more football without being told what we just watched.

 

[Deadly Danson]

Not really. They could simply have said 'Gary Lineker' tweets are his own views and do not reflect the views of the BBC'



Yes - and the BBC could do the above.

Absolutely. It's so simple. The BBC don't half make things harder for themselves sometimes.

 

[Nobby]

Any news on radio Sussex commentary of today’s game

Strange notification on the Albion YT feed. Never seen this before

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Strange notification on the Albion YT feed. Never seen this before

Maybe to offer their own commentary?

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

"f*** that" is where I am.

If you run a private company: fine, be the fascist **** who decides what opinions, feelings and thoughts people can and can not express.
If you are publicly owned company in a democracy: sorry, you shouldn't be allowed to silence your workers, because you have a responsibility to live up to the core principles of a democracy... which includes free speech.

They aren't a publicly owned company though. They are a national broadcaster with a duty not to be seen to be swaying it's licence fee payers.

So fine, sack Lineker if you want BBC. But then you can't have people in senior positions with obvious links to one of the main political parties. this damages the perception of impartiality in the same way. In addition, you've got to cancel the Apprentice etc in the same way and as they didn;t do at the time of Sugar's political tweets, I suppose that mean they can't touch Lineker.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

I don't see Richard Sharp and Gibb and all those falling on their sword. They are there to infiltrate, loot and destroy. They are ideologically against the thing they have been put in charge of. The Conservatives, who they will go back to in time, are very very happy about the way all this is playing out. This is publicity for their only policy which stands a chance of getting their core vote into the ballot box.

The Tory infiltrators will stick this out in my view

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Ideal opportunity to refresh the programme. Lineker, trying to be overly funny and the asides and in-jokes, are all frippery and totally unnecessary. " Remind me Alan, how many times did you win the FA Cup " (....very amusing....from a multiple Cup winner himself....LOL )
A hugely overpaid, self appointed media warrior, who believes that the general public hang on his every word.
If he isn't reinstated, which I hope happens for the good of the show, it will test the resolve of his sympathetic mates. Give Jermaine Jenas or Mark Chapman the Saturday job and lets get back to good old straightforward presentation.

 

[Guinness Boy]

It’s been mentioned on here a few times but buried in other posts. I don’t think this is really about Lineker. It’s existential regarding the BBC. Given the number of Tories parachuted into it recently it seems the government have effectively got them to shift to the right or lose their funding all together.

They have a stark choice now. Get GL back in and get their other presenters back onside, but face almost constant government interference until the next election or stand their ground and lose the goodwill of many liberals and centrists (and face constant scrutiny and questions about free speech).

Until now I’ve always defended the BBC on here as neutral. It’s clear that for now they are not.

It’s absolutely astonishing in this country that we need a footballer to feed hungry working class kids and an ex footballer to point out the country is lurching to the far right.

 

[Icy Gull]

Ideal opportunity to refresh the programme. Lineker, trying to be overly funny and the asides and in-jokes, are all frippery and totally unnecessary. " Remind me Alan, how many times did you win the FA Cup " (....very amusing....from a multiple Cup winner himself....LOL )
A hugely overpaid, self appointed media warrior, who believes that the general public hang on his every word.
If he isn't reinstated, which I hope happens for the good of the show, it will test the resolve of his sympathetic mates. Give Jermaine Jenas or Mark Chapman the Saturday job and lets get back to good old straightforward presentation.

Give it two weeks and I suggest a revamp of MOTD will happen if this is not resolved. Assuming they can find people willing to do it of course.

 

[Randy McNob]

There's a bit of confusion about player post match interviews, BBC claim they will not ask players to do interviews but apparantly players would have refused to do them so says the PFA, but Bristol Rovers have said they will not talk to the BBC either - I reckon that will snowball to all football league clubs....

 

[Goldstone1976]

"f*** that" is where I am.

If you run a private company: fine, be the fascist **** who decides what opinions, feelings and thoughts people can and can not express.
If you are publicly owned company in a democracy: sorry, you shouldn't be allowed to silence your workers, because you have a responsibility to live up to the core principles of a democracy... which includes free speech.

I fear that you’re showing a lack of understanding of the uniqueness of the BBC in British (probably the world’s) media.

‘Due impartiality’ is an absolutely central tenet of its Charter and every employee/contractor knows that.

 

[Jim in the West]

Tweets from Roger Mosey (@rogermosey) the former Head of BBC TV News and Director of Sport:

"So a few quick thoughts on where we are now with Gary and the BBC and the future. (1/5)

First, the tweets this week weren't compliant with editorial guidelines as they have developed over the decades. The BBC is right about that, and also that impartiality is vital. But... (2/5)

The BBC has been inconsistent in applying the guidelines over the years. Their statement about not wanting Lineker to be "an opinion-free zone" is an example of murkiness. The corporation also hasn't explained why Lineker is restrained but Alan Sugar & Co seem not to be. (3/5)

But most crucially now, by removing Lineker from MOTD, it looks as if the BBC has given in to one side of the culture war. That is, of course, intensified by the presence on the BBC board of govt appointees - most notably the chairman. (4/5)

So suggestions for now: Richard Sharp should go. He damages the BBC's credibility. Ideally, Lineker should stay within clear, agreed guidelines. And the BBC should send out its executives to be interviewed and explain how they intend to resolve this crisis. (5/5)"

That's pretty much where I am.

Close to where I am, too - but from my reading of the guidelines, Lineker isn't necessarily in breach. Firstly, the generic section includes:

"There are also others who are not journalists or involved in factual programming who nevertheless have an additional responsibility to the BBC because of their profile on the BBC. We expect these individuals to avoid taking sides on party political issues or political controversies and to take care when addressing public policy matters."

That's an "expectation" - it's not saying you can't take sides. Further on, in the section which sets out how the guidelines will be applied, it states:

"For all colleagues working in news and current affairs (across all Divisions) and factual journalism production and all senior leaders:
d) Do not reveal how you vote or express support for any political party.
e) Do not express a view on any policy which is a matter of current political debate or on a matter of public policy, political or industrial controversy, or any other ‘controversial subject’."

Clearly, these sections do NOT apply to Lineker, as he's not working in those areas.

There are further explanations about "controversial subjects", but again, these apply to news and current affairs staff.

I think it's entirely arguable by Lineker that he hasn't broken the rules. But even if it's deemed that he has, they aren't clear!

And if the BBC doesn't clarify the guidelines, it'll remain a complete mess. IMHO, at the end of the day they need to find a way for people like Lineker, Andrew Neil, David Attenborough, etc, to be able to have a decent level of freedom of speech - unless they are working in news and current affairs

 

[peterward]

Nobody is bigger than the BBC they said, clearly they were wrong!

 

[Shooting Star]

Please delete

 

[rogersix]

I haven't read all 56 pages so please forgive if I am repeating anyone. Lineker is entitled to an opinion as we all are. However, his mistake was to compare the UK government to one of the most vile regimes in history, this was out of order. On the plus side, I usually record MOTD and watch it later to fast forward through all the "experts" Long may their boycott carry on and we can all watch more football without being told what we just watched.

no he didn't. he said the language was similar, a completely different thing, as has been clearly established in the thread

 

[Nobby]

Maybe to offer their own commentary?

Looks like it

 

[Icy Gull]

My sole point is that you and @Weststander and one or two others are getting all uppity about Lineker and that, if all this uppitiness is to have any credence whatsoever, you'll need to point us to some posts where you've got all uppity about Alan Sugar expressing political opinions or, what is even worse, the way that -- to take just one example -- the BBC indulged Andrew Neil when presenting news on the BBC.

An extra point is that the media ecosystem in this country is entirely loaded towards the right and the establishment. If you deny that, you're simply delusional -- it's firmly established in the academic literature.

I don’t take too much notice of politics and so had no idea Neil or Sugar had gone down the same road without consequences. This one has made much bigger headlines I think, so I have picked up on it.

Whoever it is I stand by thinking BBC employed people should not use their profile as a platform for their political opinions.

I have no interest in getting into the rights or wrongs of this government so will leave those who feel very strongly to argue their points. Just ignore mine.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I fear that you’re showing a lack of understanding of the uniqueness of the BBC in British (probably the world’s) media.

‘Due impartiality’ is an absolutely central tenet of its Charter and every employee/contractor knows that.

I think the current senior management have a definition of that doesn’t match mine, otherwise Andrew Neil and Lord Sugar would have had the same treatment. It’s actually the thing that worries me the most about this situation

 

[rogersix]

Ideal opportunity to refresh the programme. Lineker, trying to be overly funny and the asides and in-jokes, are all frippery and totally unnecessary. " Remind me Alan, how many times did you win the FA Cup " (....very amusing....from a multiple Cup winner himself....LOL )
A hugely overpaid, self appointed media warrior, who believes that the general public hang on his every word.
If he isn't reinstated, which I hope happens for the good of the show, it will test the resolve of his sympathetic mates. Give Jermaine Jenas or Mark Chapman the Saturday job and lets get back to good old straightforward presentation.

is that the point?

 

[Swansman]

I fear that you’re showing a lack of understanding of the uniqueness of the BBC in British (probably the world’s) media.

‘Due impartiality’ is an absolutely central tenet of its Charter and every employee/contractor knows that.

Quite similar to various Scandinavian public services then.
With the difference that public service here are supposed to have a basic understanding and following of democratic values since it is the public service of supposedly democratic countries. If you have a public service in a democracy, its pretty weird to allow it to operate as a fascist entity.