The BBC thrives on conflict…But only when it suits the corporation
Television football supremo Gary Lineker may be about to score the most spectacular goal in his already storied career as a net-smasher.
Gary Lineker’s Mexican stand-off with Auntie can’t go on forever. Someone’s got to blink. My money is on the BBC caving in. Lineker 1 BBC 0
This whole episode took me back to late October 2010 when I was invited by BBC Radio Four to appear on the final edition of its popular weekly programme Making History to discuss ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects’ — the Beeb’s then recent collaboration with Neil MacGregor and the British Museum.
I had been an outspoken critic of the ‘100 Objects’ project since its inception, arguing on my blog that it was specifically designed to distract attention from the increasingly frequent calls for the repatriation of cultural objects from Western ‘Universal Museums’ such as the BM.
Sadly I had to graciously decline the offer to appear on the programme as I had a teaching engagement at the same time the live studio recording was to take place. That was the end of the telephone conversation.
It was only a week later that a friend told me how, despite my having been unable to participate, I had somehow mysteriously appeared on the programme. When I listened back on iPlayer I heard words from my blog ventriloquised by someone clearly about twenty years older than me, with a pronounced accent, and yet presented as if it were me, under my name.
My ‘contribution’ — selectively chosen, spoken out of context, and without my permission — was then dismissed by the presenter Vanessa Collingridge as, “Strong stuff, but it seems very much in the minority.” The rest of the segment was an unashamed hurrah for the programme and its presenter Neil MacGregor. But at least Vanessa had her dissenting “minority.” Is that impartiality?
Ms Collingridge then went on to say, “Sadly Neil MacGregor was unable to join us this evening.” No mention of yours truly, who appeared only as a disembodied finger-puppet.
As that experience showed me, the BBC will stoop to any depths to confect its own version of “impartiality” — even if it means massaging your words to remove any nuance or context that were present in the original. Moreover, once again, I did not give them permission to use my words.
As far as I can see, Gary Lineker has done nothing more than offer some vocal opposition to the Government’s ‘Stop the Boats’ policy. If anything he has provided some balance and amplification to a critical public debate — much of which is driven through Establishment channels — using his independent status as a celebrity to do so.
As I pointed out in my Substack piece, I disagreed with the reference he made to Germany in the 1930s and recommended he watch American politics for clearer evidence of crypto-fascist rhetoric. Nevertheless, may I be the 94th person to probably misquote Voltaire in saying to Gary — “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
I am not for one moment comparing what happened to me with the brouhaha that Gary Lineker’s tweet has triggered. But at the heart of both cases is The Establishment again. It matters not whether it’s the British Museum and its Faustian pact with the BBC and the Tory right, or BBC Chairman and Tory party donor Richard Sharp’s involvement in Boris Johnson’s loan arrangements.
It’s always the same old bouillabaisse of inside influence, blatant nest-feathering and egregious conflicts of interest.
Sharp needs to be shown a red card.