Get used to hearing views you don’t like, BBC staff told

‘That’s what the BBC is. These are the stories we tell. We can’t walk away from the conversation’

THE BBC’S outgoing head of news has told LGBT staff they “have to get used to” hearing things “they do not personally like”, it has emerged.

In an “extremely hostile” Zoom meeting with the corporation’s Pride network, Fran Unsworth, who is to leave her position in January, allegedly told employees last Friday they must get used to hearing opinions they disagreed with.

It comes as the BBC faces accusations from its own workforce that it is “institutionally transphobic”, The Sunday Times reported.

Two sources present at the meeting claimed Ms Unsworth, 63, said: “You’ll hear things you don’t personally like and see things you don’t like, that’s what the BBC is, and you have to get used to that. These are the stories we tell. We can’t walk away from the conversation.”

A BBC journalist at the meeting said: “Fran was totally calm but determined about it. She was reacting to questions from the network that implied people shouldn’t come across views they disliked. To me, it felt like she was having to explain journalism to idiots.”

Meanwhile Tim Davie, the BBC’S director-general, had also attempted to reassure staff over the corporation’s recent departure from Stonewall’s diversity champion scheme and that he was concerned about LGBT inclusivity.

A BBC source told The Sunday Times that the meeting was “extremely hostile” towards Davie, 54, who was previously chairman of a lesbian, gay and bisexual working group at the BBC. “He was told by one member of staff that he was not in a position to make decisions on this issue, because he’s not trans,” the source said. “Another said the BBC was institutionally transphobic.”

A BBC spokesman said: “This meeting was constructive and useful.

“We will continue to work with a range of external organisations, including Stonewall, on relevant projects to support our LGBTQ+ staff.”