Ofcom say BBC need to “get a grip quicker” after Bob Vylan controversy
The chief executive of the UK’s broadcasting regulator Ofcom has warned of a potential “loss of confidence” in the BBC in light of recent controversies, such as Bob Vylan’s live-streamed Glastonbury set.
The BBC have been at the heart of the recent controversy surrounding punk duo Bob Vylan. During their Glastonbury set on the West Holts Stage, the punk duo led the crowd through a chant of “Death to the IDF,” referencing the Israel Defence Forces. They also chanted “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea”. They even called out the BBC’s complicity in the worsening atrocities in Gaza. As a result, an ongoing police investigation has been launched by Somerset and Avon Police.
Immediately after the set, music fans questioned why the stream wasn’t pulled. BBC director general Tim Davie later confirmed the broadcaster had the power to cut the stream: “Yes, there were individuals present at Glastonbury who had the authority to cut the livestream after appropriate consideration.”
Additionally, a new review found that the BBC also breached accuracy guidelines over a documentary called Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone. They breached guidelines for accuracy by failing to disclose that the child narrator was the son of a Hamas official, an internal review concluded.
In reaction to the national broadcaster’s recent shortcomings, Dame Melanie Dawes, the chief executive of Ofcom, has made her opinions known. Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, Dawes began, “I think it’s very frustrating that the BBC has had some own goals in this area, with the Gaza documentary and then with the Glastonbury coverage, and it does start to erode public trust and confidence.”
She continued, “I think I would say that, above all, what frustrates me and others, is that when these things go wrong, it can take a long time for the BBC to see that something’s happened when everybody else was there within a matter of hours.”
She also warned, “So I would say to the BBC I think they need to get a grip quicker, get these reports and investigations concluded sooner, otherwise there is a real risk of a sort of loss of confidence in the BBC, which is a shame.”
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