BBC accused of 'capitulating to cult ideology' in its transgender reporting by individuals who often have a 'big personal stake'

Journalists were told that describing someone as “either a women’s rights activist or an anti-trans activist is an editorial choice”.

The briefing note was leaked online yesterday and comes just weeks after the BBC’s complaints unit took exception Justin Webb’s comments about trans women being “in other words, males”.

Sex Matters, a women’s rights group, wants to meet with BBC director-general Tim Davie to discuss the broadcaster’s coverage.

Fiona McAnena, the director of campaigns at Sex Matters, told The Telegraph: “We wrote to the director-general in good faith and he fobbed us off.”

She added: “We genuinely wanted to engage with the BBC before it damages its reputation and credibility any further, and we still do.”

The leaked nine-page briefing document said: “Debates, legislation and policies relating to transgender issues have been increasingly in the spotlight in recent years. Some of the issues are contested, with strongly held and sometimes incompatible views and no settled consensus.

“Individuals often feel they have a big personal stake in how these issues are reported. This can make it a challenging area for BBC journalism.

“We need to consider the framing of stories, the language we use, the tone of coverage, the context we provide and the labels we apply to the views of contributors.

“For example, describing someone as either a women’s rights activist or an anti-trans activist is an editorial choice.

“We may also need to challenge claims or assumptions by contributors. Care is needed, for example with use of the term ‘transphobic’ to describe people who would not themselves accept that label.”

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However, presenters were also told to challenge guests when they accuse others of transphobia.

David Jordan, the BBC’s director of editorial standards, addressed the need for the new briefing note.

Speaking about the Webb incident, Jordan told MPs: “Had he said ‘biological male’ or ‘born male’ then it wouldn’t have been a problem.

“As you know it’s a very sensitive subject for trans women to be called male rather than female.”

He added: That’s part of the debate and we need to steer very carefully through that difficult debate, make sure we are not offending either side of it or using terms that are clearly offensive to either side or seem to them to be taking sides in it.

“Had he talked about ‘biological male’ it would have been fine, it wouldn’t have been an issue.

“Just asserting that all trans women are male is not what the BBC’s style is on this.

“We did produce in December of last year a long note on reporting sex and gender in which all of this is made clear and all our journalists should have been aware of it.”

Sex Matters' Naomi Cunningham wrote to Davie requesting a meeting after a Woman’s Hour programme on the appointment of a trans woman to head an endometriosis charity.

She wrote: “The dominant culture at the BBC appears to define acknowledging the reality and immutability of binary sex as bigotry, both within the workforce and when engaging with external parties.

“This is entirely incompatible with the BBC’s status as the national, taxpayer-funded broadcaster, with a statutory duty to be impartial.

“It is also a fringe position held by only a small minority of Britons. Polling consistently shows broad rejection of the assertion that ‘trans women are women’ and of the claim that trans women (men who identify as women) should have a right of access to female-only spaces, services or sports.

“The embedding of a problematic ideological approach to sex and gender has affected the BBC’s output across the board, including news and current affairs, sport, entertainment and children’s programming.”

Davie did not respond to the offer of a meeting, instead writing: “I wanted to check that you had seen the public response about the Women’s Hour broadcast you wrote about, and I have included a copy below.

“If you would like to follow up on any of your specific points through our formal process, then the team can ensure you have a response with the opportunity to escalate via the BBC Complaint Framework.”

However, two members of Sex Matters met with BBC staff in October 2022.

A spokesman for the BBC said it did not consult externally as it concerned a briefing note.

Editorial guidelines separately involve separate engagement.