Sergeant: ‘BBC right to allow some bias’
Broadcaster John Sergeant has said the BBC is right to allow Chris Packham and Sir David Attenborough to campaign against climate change.
The former BBC and IT N political correspondent said people had attacked the pair for producing programmes about the natural world.
Sergeant ,75, said the BBC was “determinedly fair and impartial”, but the very nature of journalism made “bias of some sort” inevitable.
Sergeant told the Radio Times: “There are people taking aim at the BBC for allowing the animal rights activist Chris Packham and even Sir David Attenborough to be involved in programmes about the natural world. The manage - ment are, in my view, right to allow them to continue. In the news department, the rules are tougher – reporters must never advertise their political views .” Pack ham backed a legal challenge that resulted in restrictions on shooting “pest” birds, prompting anger. Sergeant said: “My coverage needed a strong British bias, otherwise I would never get on air.”