Latest news with #RogerMosey
BBC News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
The Media Show Afghan data breach superinjunction, Future of the BBC, Tour de France
This week a super-injunction was lifted that allowed the press to report on a story it's known about for some time – the Ministry of Defence's leaking of personal details of almost 19,000 Afghan people who had applied to move to the UK. The Times's Larisa Brown tells us how she, alongside other journalists, fought the super-injunction. The BBC's Annual Report has contained some good news for the organisation, but has been overshadowed by recent controversies. We assess its future with the BBC's former Editorial Director, Roger Mosey, and The Financial Times's Daniel Thomas. As new TV show Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters begins on ITV, we hear from creative director of Plimsoll Productions Andrea Jackson about what it takes to develop a new format blending entertainment and natural history. This is the last year that the Tour de France will be on free-to-air TV in the UK. Rachel Jary, staff writer at Rouleur, and Chris Boardman, Active Travel Commissioner and former racing cyclist, discuss how the media covers the race. Producer: Lucy Wai Assistant Producers: Emily Channon and Martha Owen
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Gary Lineker's political outbursts have been 'deeply damaging' says former boss as insiders say his BBC career 'looks untenable' and speculation grows he will leave corporation early after Zionism rat row
Gary Lineker 's former boss at the BBC has told how the footballer-turned-pundit's political outbursts have been 'deeply damaging' amid speculation he will leave the corporation early following a Zionism rat row. Roger Mosey, who used to head up the BBC's News but is now master of Selwyn College, Cambridge, wrote in the Times at a time when Lineker's position 'looks untenable' after the latest of a series of controversial posts by him in the last few years. The long-standing sports broadcaster, 64, was condemned this week for posting a reel on Instagram, which he then deleted, about Zionism which included the anti-Semitic symbol of a rat. His post faced backlash from sections of the Jewish community, and he quickly deleted it and issued an unreserved apology, claiming not to have been aware of the anti-Semitic connotations. Mr Lineker, who was paid £1.4million by the BBC last year, had shared the post, originally uploaded by another account, as it featured a critique of Zionism. The BBC stalwart has been vocal with his views on the Israeli invasion of Gaza following the October 7 attacks and has been a vocal supporter of Palestinians. Lineker said on Wednesday: 'On Instagram I reposted material which I have since learned contained offensive references. 'I very much regret these references. I would never knowingly share anything anti-Semitic. It goes against everything I believe in. The post was removed as soon as I became aware of the issue. 'Whilst I strongly believe in the importance of speaking out on humanitarian issues, including the tragedy unfolding in Gaza, I also know that how we do so matters. 'I take full responsibility for this mistake. That image does not reflect my views. It was an error on my part for which I apologise unreservedly.' Despite the apology, rumours have been swirling this week that Lineker could leave the BBC early, having previously been contracted to continue working for the corporation through to the 2026 World Cup. He also previously sparked a row when in 2023 by comparing the then-government's rhetoric over its immigration policy to that of Nazi Germany. The remark triggered a BBC suspension but this was lifted when colleagues walked out in support of the presenter. Mr Mosey wrote in the Times that Lineker could even leave as early as next week following his last Match Of The Day show. In a recent interview, Lineker told Amol Rajan: 'Perhaps they want me to leave.' A source in the sports journalism industry told Mr Mosey: 'The deal for him to continue for another year was always bizarre, but now looks untenable.' Lineker is contracted to front the BBC's FA Cup coverage next season, as well as the World Cup, but some reports - which were not denied by senior sources - have suggested his position is now tenuous. In an interview with the Telegraph this week, Mr Lineker described what is going on in Gaza as 'beyond depraved.' He said: 'We still seem to be on the side of the people who are doing this. We're still supplying arms. 'And you think, "Wow, how?" The vast majority of people see it for what it is now.' He added fuel to the fire earlier this week over an unrelated issue - as he appeared to take a swipe at the BBC's director of sport as of last year, Alex Kay-Jelski, saying he 'wants to change Match of the Day a bit'. One BBC staff member claimed the combination of sharing the rat emoji and making the comments about Kay-Jelski could prove lethal. They said: 'That is being seen as a real dig at the head of sport, which you just don't do. 'But for it to come so soon after the social media controversy makes it a real problem for him.' Tim Davie, the BBC director-general, responded to a question on Wednesday over whether Mr Lineker had broken corporation rules, following a landmark speech in Salford. He said: 'The BBC's reputation is held by everyone and when someone makes a mistake, it costs us.
The Guardian
03-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
BBC's Gaza film has issues, but we should be allowed to see it
Roger Mosey, the former head of BBC television news, may be right that 'basic rookie errors' were made over the BBC's film featuring relatives of Hamas officials, but I doubt it's that simple (Culture secretary to hold urgent meeting with BBC chair over Gaza film, 28 February). As a former TV commissioner, I have been asked to conduct investigations into editorial misdemeanours. In every case it came down either to a member of the production team having not been straight with the producer, or the producer not being straight with the broadcaster. No matter how much small print is added to the contracts between broadcasters and producers, nothing works in factual programming without trust. Factual programmes throw up myriads of unforeseen problems that must be resolved between the film-makers and the broadcaster. But having resolved them and made the appropriate editorial changes, including adding missing information, these programmes were then broadcast without further issue. Unless there is some unresolvable issue with it, Gaza – How to Survive a War Zone must be put back on BBC iPlayer, with appropriate changes, as soon as possible so we can all see it and judge it for GrimsdaleFormer commissioner, BBC and Channel 4 Last summer I was Save the Children's interim response team leader in Gaza. I watched Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone when it was still on BBC iPlayer. In many respects, it accurately portrayed what it was like to be in Gaza during active hostilities. In 20 years of humanitarian work, it was the hardest response to which I have been deployed. The documentary centred on three children who were clearly affected by what they were experiencing, and who showed courage and resilience in the face of horror. But the film gave a misleading impression, as the situation depicted for two of them was more privileged than that of the great majority I met. It gave the impression that the lives children were facing in Gaza were better than they actually were. The controversy around the film distracts attention from the plight of hundreds of thousands of children suffering harm in SkinnerSevenoaks, Kent Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
The Guardian
28-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
BBC made ‘rookie errors' over Gaza film, says former news chief
The BBC made 'basic rookie errors' over a documentary about life in Gaza that featured the son of a Hamas minister, a former senior executive at the corporation has said. Roger Mosey, who was head of BBC television news until 2013, said mistakes made by the corporation were 'not an unfortunate accident' but the upshot of 'some people not doing their job properly and making sure this programme was fit to be broadcast'. Mosey's comments came hours after the BBC apologised for 'serious flaws' in the making of the documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone. It removed the film from its platforms a week ago after it was revealed that the 13-year-old narrator's father was deputy agriculture minister in the Hamas government in Gaza. In statements issued on Thursday evening after the BBC board met to discuss the issue, the corporation said Hoyo Films, the independent production company that made the documentary, had paid the boy's mother 'a limited sum of money for the narration'. Stuart Andrew, the shadow culture minister, said the BBC should order an 'full independent' inquiry into the making of the documentary, and that police should become involved if any payments had been made to 'Hamas or their affiliates'. Andrew told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the 'possibility of payments being made to Hamas or their affiliates is deeply troubling. That is why we believe there needs to be a full independent inquiry, so we can have absolute faith that everything is being looked at in the round, and make sure we know the processes that were followed or not followed, and exactly how much money has been potentially given to Hamas or its affiliates.' If it emerged that 'public money has got into the hands of Hamas or the official, that needs and warrants a proper criminal investigation', he said. Hamas is designated a proscribed terrorist organisation by the UK government. A BBC spokesperson said an internal review had identified 'serious flaws' in the making of the programme. 'Some of these were made by the production company and some by the BBC; all of them are unacceptable … We apologise for this,' they said. The spokesperson added: 'The processes and execution of this programme fell short of our expectations. Although the programme was made by an independent production company, who were commissioned to deliver a fully compliant documentary, the BBC has ultimate editorial responsibility for this programme as broadcast.' The BBC had asked Hoyo Films several times in writing about any potential connections Abdullah al-Yazouri, the film's young narrator, and his family 'might have with Hamas'. Since transmission, Hoyo Films told the BBC that it knew Abdullah's father was a Hamas minister but had failed to tell the corporation, the spokesperson said. 'It was then the BBC's own failing that we did not uncover that fact and the documentary was aired.' The BBC was seeking further information about the payment made to the boy's mother. In a separate statement, the BBC's board said mistakes made in producing the documentary were 'significant and damaging to the BBC'. Speaking on the Today programme, Mosey said: 'If you're going to make a film about the most contentious issue in the world today, and where the BBC has to prove its impartiality, you have to get it right. The fact is that the BBC broadcast it, they took editorial responsibility, and then it has unravelled incredibly quickly. 'I think there are some basic rookie errors made here. It's not an unfortunate accident. It's actually that some people were not doing their job properly and making sure this programme was fit to be broadcast.' Mosey rejected claims that there was a 'systematic bias against Israel' at the broadcaster. He said: 'I don't think the BBC is biased on the big issues of Israel and the Middle East. I think the BBC tries very hard on the most difficult of stories to get it right, and this so undermines it.' The BBC said it had no plans to broadcast the documentary again or return it to iPlayer.
