BBC managers accused of hypocrisy at tribunal

Mr Murley believed he was discriminated against for being gay and being a union representative

BBC management has been accused of hypocrisy by a lawyer representing a sacked presenter.

Nick Toms was representing Jack Murley at a tribunal in Exeter, after the former journalist was dismissed by BBC Radio Cornwall in 2024.

Mr Murley believed he was discriminated against for being gay and being a union representative, but this has been denied by the BBC, which said he broke the corporation's social media guidelines.

Mr Toms accused BBC managers of having "one rule for management and another for union representatives" on social media use.

From 2022 Mr Murley expressed his views on the BBC's Local Value For All project on social media.

It involved changes to BBC local radio and was overseen by Jason Horton, who told the tribunal they "had to allow some venting early on” as they wanted to make it possible for people to say how they felt about the proposals.

This meant not strictly enforcing the BBC's guidelines on social media use, which require staff members to exercise "due impartiality" in posts.

In his witness statement Mr Horton said from Easter 2023 “people were going too far”.

The BBC's senior leadership team "agreed to a more robust approach" in enforcing the guidelines and on 26 June 2023 they emailed all staff to remind them of the BBC's social media guidelines.

'Cracked down'

Mr Toms said to Mr Horton "you decided this had to be cracked down on".

He then highlighted how BBC managers had openly spoken about the project, giving their views on the proposals.

"Due impartiality allows management to publicly air their side of the argument but union members can't air their views on the same points on that discussion," Mr Toms said.

He accused Mr Horton of "going after" Mr Murley and "using due impartiality to supress" his views.

“To suggest we went after him is a nonsense," Mr Horton said.

He said that when managers spoke about the changes on air the opposing views were given to provide due impartiality.

He said: “I can't think of another media organisation where that would happen.”

Mr Horton said: “Our guidelines are very clear about how to engage on social media and Jack didn’t follow them.”

Judge Alastair Smail questioned Mr Horton on whether NUJ representatives who are also reporters are always restricted by the guidelines.

Mr Horton said: “I think the impartiality for presenters and reporters trumps the union representative role.”

Tim Burke, who is responsible for maintaining editorial standards across BBC England and ensuring consistent compliance with policies and guidelines, also gave evidence.

He said: "Jack consistently pinged on my radar from 2019 onwards," for breaking social media guidelines.

He clarified at the tribunal that BBC staff members were required to report on the local value for all proposals in the same way we report on anything else.

"Social media is essentially broadcasting," he said.

"Your social media conduct, as a representative of the BBC needs to represent your impartial positions."

The tribunal continues.