October 20, 2025
BBC reporters are prohibited from carrying “Black Lives Matter” t-shirts within the newsroom, as it’s thought of too political.
BBC reporters usually are not allowed to put on “Black Lives Matter” t-shirts within the newsroom, with the gesture deemed too political and “not applicable.”
BBC Director-Common Tim Davie made the announcement on Oct. 19 on the Sunday Occasions Tradition Interview Discussion board throughout the Cheltenham Literature Pageant, citing that whereas the group opposes racism, it’s “not applicable for a journalist who could also be overlaying that difficulty to be campaigning in that approach,” the Guardian studies.
“You can not have any assumption about the place individuals are politically. You permit it on the door, and your faith is journalism within the BBC. And I inform you: the issue I’ve received is individuals react fairly chemically to that,” Davie stated.
“So you’ll be able to’t come into the newsroom with a Black Lives Matter T-shirt on. We stand completely firmly in opposition to racism in any type.”
Davie defined that whereas the BBC promotes variety and opposes racism, it should additionally uphold strict requirements of political impartiality.
“I discover a few of the hatred in society in the meanwhile completely abhorrent, personally, actually upsetting, however that could be a marketing campaign that has politicized targets,” Davie stated of the BLM motion. “Due to this fact, it’s not applicable for a journalist who could also be overlaying that difficulty to be campaigning in that approach.”
He continued. “And, for some individuals, becoming a member of the BBC, that could be a very troublesome factor to just accept. And it has not been a simple factor to get completed this, and we wrestle with it daily.”
The identical goes for stationary objects that ship a political message throughout election season, Davie stated.
“I really feel very, very strongly that should you stroll into the BBC newsroom, you can’t be holding a Kamala Harris mug once you come to the election – no approach, that’s not even acceptable,” he stated.
Because the BBC Director-Common, it’s Davie’s “primary precedence” to stay neutral, which requires “parts of variety,” together with “socioeconomic variety,” an space he says has not been mentioned sufficient.
“It’s completely an enormous battle, and I’m getting questions: ‘Why are you giving a voice to Reform?’, ‘Why are you doing this?’ We’re not giving a voice—we’re overlaying it, reporting on what individuals are inquisitive about and reflecting the fact of their experiences,” he stated.
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