The BBC‘s coverage is allegedly being ‘censored’ by pro-trans staff who refuse to cover stories on the topic.
Other staff members at the public broadcast have shared concerns that a ‘small group of people’ are keeping anti-transgender ‘perspectives off the air’.
Their actions have led to a ‘a constant drip-feed of one-sided stories … celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or objectivity’, a leaked internal BBC memo revealed.
The memo added that it it reflected a ‘cultural problem across the BBC’, which treats issues of gender and sexuality as ‘a celebration of British diversity’.
It comes after the BBC announced it was to ‘pause’ its training workshops for its staff on transgender and LGBTQ+ issues following the Supreme Court‘s verdict in that the term ‘sex’ in the Equality Act should stand for biological sex.
The report was written by Michael Prescott, who spent three years as an adviser to the broadcaster’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee, who sent the 19-page document to the BBC Board.
Part of the report warned that that the BBC is not only risking bias in its coverage of trans issues, but is confusing viewers by failing to make it clear who are and aren’t transgender women in its stories.
Mr Prescott also noted that many transgender stories, that were widely covered elsewhere in the UK press, were not covered by the BBC.
The BBC headquarters at Broadcasting House. Coverage from the public broadcaster is allegedly being ‘censored’ by pro-trans staff who refuse to cover stories on the topic
For example, the BBC has failed to cover the Darlington nurses who are taking on a health trust claiming sexual discrimination and sexual harassment because nurse Rose Henderson – who was born male but identifies as a woman – was able to share female changing rooms.
The leaked memo added that the BBC gives viewers ‘a constant drip-feed of one-sided stories, usually news features, celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or objectivity’ rather than a balanced view of the issue.
The risk from this type of coverage is that it becomes ‘incomprehensible’ to the audience due to the failure to acknowledge the person is transgender.
In one case, Mr Prescott highlighted how in the case of Scarlet Blake, a transgender woman sentenced in February 2024 for the murder of Jorge Martin Carreno, a factory worker, the BBC at first referred to her as a woman.
The broadcaster later acknowledged this was a mistake.
On the matter, Mr Prescott said: ‘It is interesting to ask how the lunchtime news got this wrong – it may well speak to capture by a particular lobby or a nervousness when reporting these subjects.’
BBC bosses are also facing ‘serious questions’ over their handling of an internal report on impartiality as the corporation stands accused of ‘pushing Hamas lies around the world’.
The report, which was sent to BBC director general Tim Davie and chairman Samir Shah last month, has plunged the corporation into a fresh crisis with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch arguing ‘heads should roll’.
Mr Prescott highlighted how in the case of Scarlet Blake, a transgender woman sentenced in February 2024 for the murder of Jorge Martin Carreno, a factory worker, the BBC at first referred to her as a woman
Pressure is mount on BBC director general Tim Davie to fall on his sword after a former senior BBC executive called for the top boss to go after ‘three scandals too many’
On Monday pressure was mounting on Mr Davie to fall on his sword after a former senior BBC executive called for the top boss to go after ‘three scandals too many’.
The memo on impartiality said the BBC chose to ‘minimise Israeli suffering’ in the war in Gaza while ‘painting Israel as the aggressor’ during the conflict.
It said corporation staff ‘raced to air’ to make allegations against Israel without adequate checks and suggested there was ‘a desire always to believe the worst about Israel’.
The report also found that BBC Arabic, which is part of the World Service, gave a platform to journalists who had made extreme anti-Semitic comments.
One man who said Jews should be burned ‘as Hitler did’ appeared as a guest on BBC Arabic 244 times in 18 months. While another, who described Israelis as less than human and Jews as ‘devils’, appeared 522 times in the same period.
A BBC spokesperson told the Daily Telegraph: ‘While we don’t comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully.
‘We have taken a number of actions relating to our reporting of sex and gender including updating the news style guide and sharing new guidance, making our social affairs editor responsible for this coverage, and where there have been concerns about particular stories, we have addressed them.
‘We continually review our coverage to reflect developments such as the recent Supreme Court ruling.’
