A BBC News presenter who corrected the phrase “pregnant people” to “women” while live on-air has had 20 complaints about her upheld.
Martine Croxall, 56, was introducing a news item in June about a study into protecting vulnerable people in hot weather conditions when she made the change to the wording contained in the report and appeared to roll her eyes.
Her decision to change the wording earned her praise online from JK Rowling and Martina Navratilova, as well as the support of BBC bosses.
• Political correctness is damaging our language
During the broadcast, Croxall said: “The research says that the aged, pregnant people … women … and those with pre-existing health conditions need to take precautions.”
But now the broadcaster’s Editorial Complaints Unit (ECU) has censured the presenter for breaching its rules on impartiality. It concluded that her reaction, which it said “has been variously interpreted by complainants as showing disgust, ridicule, contempt or exasperation” revealed her personal viewpoint on the controversies surrounding the debate over transgender people.
In a statement, it said: “The ECU considered the facial expression … laid it open to the interpretation that it indicated a particular viewpoint in the controversies currently surrounding trans identity, and the congratulatory messages Croxall later received on social media, together with the critical views expressed in the complaints to the BBC, tended to confirm that the impression of her having expressed a personal view was widely shared across the spectrum of opinion on the issue.
“As giving the strong impression of expressing a personal view on a controversial matter, even if inadvertently, falls short of the BBC’s expectations of its presenters and journalists in relation to impartiality, the ECU upheld the complaints.”
The conclusions have been reported to BBC News bosses, who appeared to try to defend Croxall over her reaction to the script’s “clumsily incorporated phrases from the press release”.
It is the second time Croxall has been found in breach of the BBC’s impartiality rules
PA
It is the second time that Croxall has been found to have breached the BBC’s impartiality rules. In 2022 the ECU ruled that she risked disclosing her personal view on the Conservative leadership election after declaring that it was “all very exciting” amid breaking news that Boris Johnson was not going to stand.
The BBC has been trying to counter accusations that it has been suppressing negative stories about the transgender debate. Michael Prescott, a former independent adviser to the BBC, claimed on Wednesday that it was guilty of avoiding publishing stories about trans issues, while running a “constant drip-feed” of more celebratory news features that were published without adequate balance.
BBC insiders pushed back against suggestions that it had been “captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view” of the trans debate. A spokesperson said that it had taken a number of actions relating to the reporting of sex and gender, including updating its news style guide and “continually reviews” its coverage to reflect developments such as the Supreme Court ruling on biological sex.
The findings are unlikely to please Rowling, the Harry Potter author. After Croxall’s report was circulated on social media, earning the presenter more than 50,000 new followers on X, Rowling said she was her “new favourite BBC presenter”, adding “You’d better not be in any trouble.”
Fiona McAnena, the director of campaigns at sex-based rights charity Sex Matters, said that it was “outrageous” that Croxall had been penalised over her frustration.
“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,” said McAnena.
“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.”
Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, told The Daily Telegraph: “The BBC has been caught red-handed in multiple acts of left-wing bias. They have grotesquely doctored a speech by President Trump. They have taken the words of Hamas as gospel. They have suppressed debate about the trans issue.
“Anyone who owns a TV is compelled to fund this organisation. Tim Davie must either explain or resign.”
Last year, Justin Webb, a presenter of Today on Radio 4, was found to have partially breached BBC guidelines in the way he described a transgender woman in a debate about chess. Webb was told that he was at fault for describing the transgender woman as “in other words, male” during a debate in August 2023 about guidelines issued by the international chess federation about whether men have an advantage in the game.