BBC reporter probed over tweets on anti semitism
● Veteran journalist anonymously promoted attacks on Emma Barnett after presenter’s Shoah broadcast
CULTURE SECRETARY Oliver Dowden has described as “very concerning” the revelation by the JC that a BBC World News journalist has used an anonymous social media account to mount attacks on Emma Barnett, following a broadcast by the radio presenter on the impact of antisemitism on her family.
The BBC has confirmed it has begun an “urgent investigation” into the conduct of Nimesh Thaker, who has worked as a news reporter and producer at the BBC for over 20 years.
Mr Thaker also used the Twitter account, set up under the pseudonym Not That Bothered, to support posts by Kerry-Anne Mendoza and Jackie Walker, both of whom have been at the centre of antisemitism allegations.
In further posts from the same account,theBBCreporteralsosuggested Israelwasa“racist”anda“whitesupremaciststate”andattackedtheBBCDirector General as a “white male Tory”.
A statement issued on Wednesday after the JC published its report online said: “The BBC takes allegations of this nature extremely seriously, and while we cannot comment on individual staff issues, we have robust processes in place to investigate any such matters with urgency.”
The JC’s initial report on Mr Thaker was published on Tuesday, the same day that the BBC’s new director-general Tim Davie started his new role.
In a bid to restore the BBC’s reputation for impartiality, Mr Davie is expected to tell staff this week that journalists must not allow personal politics to impact on their work.
Mr Dowden told the JC: “We are an open and tolerant society and there is no place for antisemitism on or offline. These allegations are very concerning and, as the nation’s broadcaster, we expect BBC journalists to adhere to the highest standards of impartiality.”
Mr Thaker used the Not That Bothered account to attempt to make contact with individuals for reports he
He also suggested Israel was a ‘white supremacist’ state
was making for the BBC — exposing the fact that he was behind the account.
Mr Thaker — who has reported and produced for BBC World for over 20 years — was openly critical of BBC 5 Live presenter Ms Barnett after she made a widely praised broadcast about the impact of the Holocaust on her family on the day that Twitter was being boycotted over its failure to act against rapper Wiley’s antisemitic outbursts.
Screenshots showed that the Not That Bothered account had retweeted a post sent to Ms Barnett which accused her of using “the same old ‘antisemitism’ excuse whenever people criticise Israel”.
In another tweet that same day, the Not That Bothered account then made a reference to those who were supporting the 48-hour boycott.
Mr Thaker wrote: “Has the level of hate and political smearing just dropped on twitter or are racists on holiday at the moment?”
Not That Bothered next retweeted a post written by Jackie Walker, who was expelled by Labour over antisemitism, which accused some of the Twitter boycotters of being “Infamous” for “antiblack/Muslim racism.”
On another occasion, Mr Thaker
appeared to support claims by the notorious editor of The Canary website Ms Mendoza when Not That Bothered retweeted an incendiary post suggesting the “antisemitism witch-hunt” was heading for a “face-off” with the Black Lives Matters movement. The post also said: “those anti-Black, antiPalestinian racists are gonna get their a***s dragged all over town.”
Meanwhile another post written on Not That Bothered and tweeted on July 7 to the MediaGuido site said: “Guido doesn’t like black women to have an opinion.
“But white male tory as DG of the BBC is ok.”
Mr Davie — who has replaced Lord Hall in the director-general role — was previously the chief executive of BBC Worldwide, now BBC Studios.
He is known to be concerned about claims of political bias at the BBC — including accusations of left-wing bias in comedy shows..
And an incoming review into social media use by BBC staff conducted by former head of news Richard Sambrook is expected to be used to curtail the subjects that employees may weigh in on.
In May, a monologue from Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis lambasting Dominic Cummings’ flouting of lockdown regulations was found to have breached impartiality rules — with BBC head of news Fran Unsworth saying it had “belonged more on the oped page in a newspaper than it did as the intro to an impartial broadcast programme”.
BBC World is an international channel with an estimated 121 million viewers. It broadcasts news bulletins, documentaries, lifestyle programmes and interview shows. Unlike the BBC’s domestic channels, BBC World News is owned and operated by BBC Global News Ltd.
The JC attempted to contact Mr Thaker for comment but he failed to respond to repeated requests.
But the Not That Bothered account became private shortly after the made contact with Mr Thaker so tweets could only be viewed by those accepted as friends.