The BBC has sought to defend its rebuke of presenter Naga Munchetty after scores of high profile figures condemned the move as “racially discriminatory”.
The corporation’s editorial standards ruled Ms Munchetty had breached editorial guidelines for speaking out against inflammatory comments made by Donald Trump.
Her remarks centred on the US president’s suggestion that four ethnic minority Democrat congresswoman should “go back” to their “crime-infested” countries.
“Every time I’ve been told as a woman of colour to ‘go home’, to ‘go back to where I’ve come from’, that was embedded in racism,” Ms Munchetty commented on air at the time.
Responding to criticism of its decision, the BBC’s head of editorial standards David Jordan insisted that she had not been found in breach for "calling out racist comments”.
He insisted the "issue" on which the BBC finding was made was "not her responding to that clearly racist comment, or responding personally to what it's like as a person of colour to have a remark of that nature directed against yourself.”
Instead, he said, the issue arose because she and co-presenter Dan Walker speculated on Mr Trump’s motivations.
In the clip, Ms Munchetty’s co-presenter Dan Walker said the president’s actions felt like a “thought-out strategy to strengthen his position”.
Ms Munchetty agreed, adding: “And it’s not enough to do it just to get attention — he’s in a responsible position.”
The implication here, Mr Jordan suggested, was the real source of the breach.
"It's about how you go on then to discuss the person that made them, and make assumptions or remarks about that,” he said.”
Mr Jordan’s comments followed news that more than 50 journalists and public figures had signed a letter urging the BBC to overturn its decision.
The signatories of the letter describe themselves as “a group of black people who work in the media and broadcasting", including comedian Sir Lenny Henry, Channel 4 journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy and writer Afua Hirsch.
The letter states: “Racism is not a valid opinion on which an ‘impartial’ stance can or should be maintained.
“For communities and individuals who experience racist abuse — including Munchetty — being expected to treat racist ideas as potentially valid has devastating and maybe illegal consequences for our dignity and ability to work in a professional environment, as well as being contrary to race equality and human rights legislation.
“To suggest a journalist can ‘talk about her own experiences of racism’ while withholding a critique on the author of racism (in this case President Trump) has the ludicrous implication that such racism may be legitimate and should be contemplated as such.”
It continues: “To suggest that future BAME broadcasters will be hired at the corporation on the premise that they remain ‘impartial’ about how they feel about their experiences of racism is ludicrous
“To require journalists of all ethnicities and races to endorse racism as a legitimate ‘opinion’ is an abrogation of responsibility of the most serious nature.”
The letter also calls for the bodies that oversee complaints about broadcasting, to "address their own levels of diversity and increase transparency as to how they reach their decisions".
Ms Hirsch, who helped coordinate the letter told said she had been "shocked and horrified" by the BBC's ruling.
She told BBC Two's Victoria Derbyshire programme: "It's ludicrous to say it's fine for a presenter to express her own experience of racism but she shouldn't cast judgment on the person being racist."
She also told the Today programme that the decision had "a highly disproportionate and unacceptable impact on people of colour in broadcasting,” because it “distributes the labour of having to challenge racism unequally".
As the public debate raged on, the hashtag “IStandWithNaga” soon began trending on Twitter.
“Racism is not a political view, it is abhorrent and unacceptable and she has every right to speak up. #IStandWithNaga,” wrote one user.
“@BBCNaga wasn't voicing an opinion when she implied President Trump's comments were racist, she was just stating a fact. #IStandWithNaga.” added another.
Ms Munchetty has yet to comment on the debate.
