Back to the Beeb, which is better at making the news rather than breaking it these days. Now a new report on the conduct of its employees has concluded that a ‘minority’ of stars and managers ‘behave unacceptably’ at work with chiefs failing to address bad behaviour. The review was ordered by the BBC’s board after the disturbing Huw Edwards case last year, which saw the ex-presenter plead guilty to having 41 indecent images of children. Good heavens…
The BBC-commissioned report interviewed 2,500 of the corporation’s staff members. It found that overall, the institution does not have a toxic work culture, but that there was ‘a minority of people who behave unacceptably and whose behaviour is not addressed’. The review blasted the Beeb for showing ‘inconsistent execution when it comes to dealing with poor performance and bad behaviour’ and remarked that authors had heard ‘examples of well-known names not being held to account for poor behaviour’. It added:
These people work in both on and off-air roles, dotted across the organisation in different functions and departments. They are often in positions where power could be abused. Even though they are small in number, their behaviour creates large ripples which negatively impact the BBC’s culture and external reputation.
Lovely! The review went on to note: ‘We also heard of ‘untouchables’ who work behind the camera or microphone. The perception was that senior management would turn an eye to poor behaviours when productions were award-winning or attracting large audiences.’ How very upstanding, eh?
The latest report comes 12 years after a previous review after the Jimmy Savile scandal, which itself concluded there was a ‘strong undercurrent of fear’ at the organisation when it came to tackling bullying. In the last year, further complaints about BBC stars including Russell Brand and ex-Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood prompted the Beeb’s execs to apologise to staff – while allegations involving former presenter Jermaine Jenas and Masterchef co-host Gregg Wallace made headlines. The much-scrutinised organisation says it will introduce reforms to tackle bad behaviour – including an improved disciplinary policy, code of conduct and complaint mechanisms – with chairman Samir Shah insisting he would draw ‘a line in the sand’. It’s about time…
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