BBC director-general Tim Davie has discussed allegations of antisemitism at the corporation during a meeting with the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
The group said it raised “long-standing misgivings” with the BBC boss relating to its culture and coverage, including not referring to Hamas as terrorists in its reporting of the war with Israel.
The meeting came a day after more than 200 people from the TV and film industry signed a letter calling for an urgent investigation into allegations of antisemitism at the BBC.
Today, Board of Deputies President @philr_r, together with Vice President @andrewgilbert1 and Chief Executive @michaelwegier, met BBC Director General Tim Davie to discuss Jewish communal concerns. Here is our statement about that meeting: pic.twitter.com/h4Qm1uOgQV
— Board of Deputies of British Jews (@BoardofDeputies) August 2, 2024
Board of Deputies president Phil Rosenberg said: “We were absolutely clear to the BBC leadership about the unacceptable state of affairs, both in terms of content and coverage.
“We found the BBC team to be open and engaged and welcomed their commitment to consider our proposals. As ever, we will judge the corporation by its actions.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “We were pleased to meet today with the Board of Deputies and we look forward to continuing an open dialogue.”
The meeting was initially planned as an introduction for Mr Davie and Mr Rosenberg, but the Board of Deputies president “took the opportunity to discuss concerns from BBC employees, contractors and creatives” following the release of the signed letter to members of the BBC Board on Thursday.
The letter said that 208 people from across the television and film industries, the majority of whom are Jewish, are in “anguish and disbelief” that previous complaints about coverage and social media breaches amid the Israel-Hamas war have not been dealt with.
They also cited posts from Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker and BBC Arabic staff, along with others.
Last year, Mr Lineker retweeted a post by a pro-Palestinian group calling for the International Olympic Committee, Fifa and all regional and international sports governing bodies to take “an urgent stance” following thousands of people in Gaza being killed.
He reportedly did it in error, and told The Guardian he had “received threats” and described social media postings on the Hamas-Israel war as “toxic”.
Social media guidelines were updated to say BBC flagship presenters have a “particular responsibility to help to balance commitments to both freedom of expression and impartiality” following Mr Lineker being taken off air last year in the wake of controversy over him comparing the language used to launch the previous government asylum seeker policy with 1930s Germany.
Mr Davie told MPs in March that some tweets by BBC Arabic staff were “unacceptable”, and maintained that the broadcaster was “acting fairly and judiciously”.
He also told staff in an email in February that he is “listening” following concerns of abuse of staff, as well as stating that there is “no place at the BBC for racist abuse of any kind” including antisemitism, Islamophobia or racism.
Since October 2023, the BBC has a community group for Arab and Muslim employees, as well as Jewish staff, through the staff-led network BBC Embrace.
