BBC presenter’s eye-roll at pro-trans terminology ‘broke impartiality’

A BBC News presenter’s facial expression at pro-trans terminology has fallen foul of the broadcaster’s impartiality rules.

During a live broadcast in June, Martine Croxall amended the term “pregnant people” to “women” in a story highlighting research on the effect of heatwaves on pre-existing health conditions. Twenty viewers contacted the BBC to complain that her facial expression at the time displayed “disgust, ridicule, contempt or exasperation”.

The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) upheld the complaints against her, claiming that her demeanour gave “the strong impression of expressing a personal view on a controversial matter”.

‘Incredulity’

The ECU took note of BBC News management’s explanation that Croxall was “reacting to scripting which somewhat clumsily incorporated phrases from the press release accompanying the research, including ‘the aged’, which is not BBC style, and ‘pregnant people'”. However, the internal body did not change its decision.

According to The Mail on Sunday, Croxall’s colleagues plan to complain about the ruling, following “incredulity in the newsroom when this came out”.

One source stated: “The feeling is that the ECU is an ivory tower and some of these people genuinely believe that sex is not binary and that you can change sex. There is a suspicion within the newsroom that there must be one person, and possibly more, within the unit who is genuinely a campaigner for that point of view.”

“It’s incredibly frustrating for those on the shop floor. There is a feeling within the newsroom that the complaints unit is absolutely mad. To be fair, that view is shared by even some senior managers.”

‘Ridiculous’

The Christian Institute’s Head of Policy and Research Dave Greatorex commented: “Of course this is a ridiculous decision.

“We should be able to trust our national broadcaster to tell the truth. That’s what Martine Croxall did, reflecting the biological reality that only women can be pregnant.

“In labelling and condemning her reaction as ‘expressing a personal view on a controversial matter’, the ECU has itself shown partiality against the truth and undermined the BBC’s credibility.”

‘Chilling proof’

Fiona McAnena, Director of Campaigns at Sex Matters, commented: “Only women can be pregnant. BBC audiences know this fact of life, and BBC bosses do too, so their punishment of Croxall looks like more chilling proof of their apparent willingness to put ideology before independent reporting.

“With all that has been exposed in recent days, some may wonder why journalists at the BBC aren’t doing more to combat the indoctrination across the organisation.

“When this is the consequence for even high-profile employees such as Croxall, it’s little wonder that others aren’t willing to take the risk.”

‘One-sided’

Last week, it was reported that a small group of LGBT activists within the BBC censored news coverage critical of transgender ideology.

In a leaked internal document seen by The Daily Telegraph, Michael Prescott warned executives of fears that LGBT “desk staffers” were “keeping other perspectives off-air”.

He added: “There was also a constant drip-feed of one-sided stories, usually news features, celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or objectivity.”

A BBC spokesman responded: “We have taken a number of actions relating to our reporting of sex and gender including updating the news style guide and sharing new guidance”.