BBC bosses back Martine Croxall over ‘pregnant people' correction
BBC bosses have backed a television presenter who corrected the phrase 'pregnant people' to 'women' while broadcasting live, in what has been welcomed as a rejection of gender-neutral language.
Martine Croxall, 56, was citing a study about protecting vulnerable people in hot weather and, after reading out the report's phrasing, immediately rolled her eyes and changed the wording to 'women'.
'Malcolm Mistry, who was involved in the research, says that the aged, pregnant people … women … and those with pre-existing health conditions need to take precautions,' she said.
JK Rowling was among those to support the presenter, calling Croxall 'her new favourite BBC presenter' on X, and the former Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova also backed her.
Croxall added: 'A huge thank you to everyone who has chosen to follow me today for whatever reason. It's been quite a ride.'
She has gained almost 50,000 followers on the social media platform since the incident on Sunday afternoon.
BBC bosses are also understood to have been 'intensely relaxed' about the wording amid concerns from some staff that Croxall may have faced disciplinary action.
Last year Justin Webb, a presenter of Today on Radio 4, was found to have partially breached BBC guidelines over the way in which he described a transgender woman in a debate about chess.
Justin Webb was sanctioned by the BBC over an incident on Today on Radio 4
BBC
Webb was told that he was at fault for describing the transgender woman as 'in other words, male' during a debate in August 2023 about guidelines issued by the international chess federation about whether men have an advantage in the game.
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But the BBC's position appears to have shifted since Webb was sanctioned.
Following Sunday's broadcast, bosses are understood to have checked in with Croxall in a supportive way.
'It's a real cultural moment,' said one fellow BBC presenter, who said that there is a groundswell of support internally for using 'honest language'.
Samir Shah is chairman of the BBC
MICHAEL LECKIE FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES CULTURE
They are said to have the support of Samir Shah, the BBC chairman. He is thought to have been dismayed by the ruling surrounding the Today incident, which took place several months before he joined the corporation.
The shift is said to have been underpinned by the Supreme Court ruling in April, which found that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex.
In a statement at the time, the BBC said that it was assessing how to implement the ruling into its editorial guidelines.
'In our news reporting, we always aim to deal with issues fairly and impartially, and this is informed by our editorial guidelines,' a spokesman said. 'BBC News is assessing the ruling to consider any updates which might need to be made to the style guide as a result.'
The BBC News style guide encourages 'appropriate language' when reporting on a person's gender, including using whichever gender pronouns are 'preferred by the person in question, unless there are editorial reasons not to do so'.
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