BBC Chief Refuses to Quit Despite Chaos

BBC Chief Refuse :- After accusing the UK government of employing Nazi-era rhetoric while revealing its strategy to combat illegal immigration, Lineker was obliged to “step aside” from his duties as the host of the premier league’s highlights program.

The BBC said on Friday that Lineker, England’s fourth best goal scorer of all-time, had infringed standards on impartiality and the corporation would seek “an agreed and unambiguous position on his usage of social media” before an on-screen comeback.

Greg Dyke, a former head of the BBC, issued a warning on Saturday, saying that “it seems like — the perception out there — that the BBC has surrendered to government pressure,” adding fuel to the fire over the broadcaster’s objectivity.

Jeremy Hunt, the finance minister, stated on Sky News on Sunday that while he “profoundly” disagreed with Lineker’s comments, the BBC and its director general Tim Davie should make the final decision.

We all hold this wonderful national institution in such high regard because of its reputation for objectivity, he remarked.

“We need to make sure that the outcome of this restores the public’s faith in the BBC’s objectivity.” The public-funded network is accused by Lineker’s detractors of allowing him to utilize the platform provided to him as the host of its popular football program to sway divisive political matters.

His supporters, however, counter that the BBC is following the lead of Tory politicians by pointing out that current BBC head Richard Sharp helped former prime minister Boris Johnson secure a credit guarantee when interviewing for the position.

The BBC’s planned sports programming across its television and radio output was completely disrupted by the decision to dismiss Lineker.

Former England players

Former England players Ian Wright and Alan Shearer were among the analysts on Match of the Day who chose not to perform in their regular capacities.

As a consequence, a condensed 20-minute highlights package of six games from the English top-flight was shown for the first time without a presenter, commentators, or even commentary, making it the longest-running football television program in the world.

Despite the format disruption, BBC entertainment journalist Lizo Mzimba tweeted on Sunday that the show’s viewership was up 2.58 million viewers from the previous week.

The weekend preview program Football Focus, the results program Final Score, the Sunday wrap-up program Match of the Day 2, and BBC Radio 5Live’s coverage were all cancelled.

When questioned about the Lineker controversy, Davie responded, “Certainly not.” “I believe that my responsibility is to serve license-fee payers and to offer a BBC that is really committed on producing world-class, impartial groundbreaking content. I look forward to us resolving this issue and to doing so.

“To be clear, success for me is Gary gets back on air and together we are bringing the public that world-class sports coverage,” the commenter said. “As I say, I’m sorry we haven’t been able to deliver today.”

Reference :

https://www.dawn.com/news/1741883/bbc-chief-refuses-to-quit-despite-chaos-sparked-by-lineker-removal