BBC Journalists Fear Curb on Charity Work
August 5, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Times reports on senior BBC journalists’ concern over a management mandate that an anchor on the network sever ties with a prominent charity.
The British public broadcaster ordered its news host George Alagiah to step down as patron of the Fairtrade Foundation, which supports farmers in the developing world, to “protect [the BBC’s] reputation for impartiality.” The move has raised fears among BBC news personalities of an overall ban on charity alliances.
A BBC spokeswoman said the broadcaster’s guidelines “don’t set out a blanket ban on our presenters taking on outside commitments” but that individual relationships would be judged case by case.
