Justin Webb broke BBC rules in comment on gender story
THE BBC’S Justin Webb broke impartiality rules by calling trans women “males” on air.
The corporation upheld a complaint against the Today presenter after he said “trans women, in other words males” on the programme last August.
A listener complained the comment amounted to Mr Webb giving his personal view in breach of the BBC’S requirements on impartiality. The BBC’S editorial complaints unit (ECU) agreed, saying it “gave the impression of endorsing one viewpoint in a highly controversial area”.
Gender critical activists said yesterday that the ruling showed the BBC had “lost sight of its statutory duty” to be impartial.
Webb, 63, made the comment during a discussion about new International Chess Federation (FIDE) guidelines on Aug 22 last year regarding whether being biologically male can give players an advantage in the game.
The BBC’S complaints unit, in a ruling published yesterday, said it was not in a position to determine Webb’s personal opinion on the issue but that it was not necessary to do so in order to judge whether he had breached impartiality rules.
It said: “The ECU understood Mr Webb’s intention in using the phrase ‘trans women, in other words males’ was to underline the question arising from the FIDE guidelines but noted a press line issued at the time included an acknowledgement that his phrasing did not convey an entirely accurate impression.
“In relation to impartiality, however, the ECU considered it could only be understood by listeners as meaning that trans women remain male, without qualification as to gender or biological sex, and that, even if unintentional, it gave the impression of endorsing one viewpoint in a highly controversial area. It therefore upheld this aspect of the complaint.”
The ECU said this finding has now been “discussed with Justin Webb and the Today team”. The ruling did not agree that a failure to mention the position of the English Chess Federation on the issue amounted to “bias by omission”. As a result the unit “part upheld” the complaint.
Webb had a similar ruling partly upheld against him in February 2022 after alluding to his personal view on transphobia accusations against the university professor Kathleen Stock.
During an introduction of Radio 4’s newspaper review in October 2021, he said: “And quite a lot of coverage still of Kathleen Stock, the academic from Sussex University who’s been abused by students who accuse her, falsely, of transphobia.”
Yesterday, Fiona Mcanena, of women’s rights group Sex Matters, said: “Today’s ruling clearly shows the BBC has lost sight of its statutory duty, as the national, taxpayer-funded broadcaster, to be impartial. Webb’s position is factual and reflects the views of most British TV licence-holders.”