Thank you for writing this. I was working for the BBC at the time and it seemed as though everyone in the world was talking about this most brutal murder. Black Lives Matter is about basic humanity and human rights. And yet just over a year later the BBC issued new “impartiality” guidelines which meant that suddenly certain topics deemed “controversial” were off limits for staff on social media and we could no longer go on public events against racism as a private person. For those of us with lived experience of racism it was a new layer of anguish and a crisis of identity of being forced to choose between professional expediency and our authentic selves, the very thing that drove us to be journalists in the first place. No wonder so many of us have left.
Thank you for reading and subscribing. I’m shocked to hear you couldn’t even go to anti racism events as a public person. That doesn’t sound right. I’m sorry you went through that but also glad you’re not in that anymore. I find that the BBC has lost its way on impartiality and we’re seeing how it’s playing out with racists being platformed. But it’s not only the BBC. A colleague of mine who worked for a tabloid said when she pitched a story about George Floyd, they rejected it even though it was the biggest story at the time. I personally remember wanting to write about the anniversary and my editor essentially said no it wasn’t news worthy. Things have changed rapidly but we keep on keeping on. Thanks for sharing your thoughts
Thank you for writing this. I was working for the BBC at the time and it seemed as though everyone in the world was talking about this most brutal murder. Black Lives Matter is about basic humanity and human rights. And yet just over a year later the BBC issued new “impartiality” guidelines which meant that suddenly certain topics deemed “controversial” were off limits for staff on social media and we could no longer go on public events against racism as a private person. For those of us with lived experience of racism it was a new layer of anguish and a crisis of identity of being forced to choose between professional expediency and our authentic selves, the very thing that drove us to be journalists in the first place. No wonder so many of us have left.
Thank you for reading and subscribing. I’m shocked to hear you couldn’t even go to anti racism events as a public person. That doesn’t sound right. I’m sorry you went through that but also glad you’re not in that anymore. I find that the BBC has lost its way on impartiality and we’re seeing how it’s playing out with racists being platformed. But it’s not only the BBC. A colleague of mine who worked for a tabloid said when she pitched a story about George Floyd, they rejected it even though it was the biggest story at the time. I personally remember wanting to write about the anniversary and my editor essentially said no it wasn’t news worthy. Things have changed rapidly but we keep on keeping on. Thanks for sharing your thoughts