The BBC has released more details on its decision to uphold a complaint against news presenter Naga Munchetty.
The ‘BBC Breakfast’ host was found to have breached guidelines by criticising President Donald Trump after he said four female politicians should “go back” to “places from which they came”.
The corporation said its editorial guidelines “do not allow for journalists to… give their opinions about the individual making the remarks or their motives for doing so – in this case President Trump”.
A BBC spokesperson said, “President Trump’s comments that a number of female Democrat members of Congress should ‘go back’ to the ‘totally broken and crime infested places from which they came’ were widely condemned as racist, and we reported on this extensively.
“The BBC’s editorial guidelines do require due impartiality, but the Editorial Complaints Unit’s ruling is clear that Naga Munchetty was perfectly entitled to give a personal response to the phrase ‘go back to your own country’. She understandably feels strongly on this issue, and there was nothing wrong with her talking about her own experiences of racism.
“However, our editorial guidelines do not allow for journalists to then give their opinions about the individual making the remarks or their motives for doing so – in this case President Trump – and it was for this reason that the complaint was partially upheld. Those judgments are for the audience to make.”
