The BBC does many things right. Look at its exemplary coverage of Wimbledon and the Women’s Euros. But when it gets itself in a mess, it really gets itself in a mess, and that is what’s happening as the fallout from Glastonbury continues.
Today, the corporation has issued another statement about Bob Vylan’s hate-filled performance at Worthy Farm. It said that “it is clear that errors were made both in the lead-up to and during Bob Vylan’s appearance.”
The most telling part for me is this:
Bob Vylan were deemed high risk following a risk assessment process applied to all acts appearing at Glastonbury. Seven acts including Bob Vylan were included in this category and they were all deemed suitable for live streaming with appropriate mitigations.
The BBC knew there could, likely would, be a problem. Unlike with Kneecap, who had attracted all the attention before the weekend, it still decided to facilitate a live broadcast of Bob Vylan. That’s despite the frontman Pascal Robinson-Foster calling for “death to every single IDF soldier out there”, just a month before Glastonbury, per Jewish News.
Glastonbury is Mess of BBC’s Own Making
Meanwhile, the BBC did not show less “high risk” acts like the Kaiser Chiefs. Whatever one’s musical tastes, it’s a ridiculous editorial decision. Simply swapping those two acts in the coverage would have avoided all manner of problems. What happened on stage would still have attracted attention. However, all the criticism would have (rightly) been directed at the Glastonbury organisers. Instead, as is so often the case, the BBC took the option most likely to cause a problem.
Having made that first bad call, it continued to get things wrong. The statement continues:
During the performance, the livestream was monitored in line with the agreed compliance protocols and a number of issues were escalated. Warnings appeared on the stream on two occasions and the editorial team took the decision not to cut the feed. This was an error.
Remember, this row comes just weeks after the BBC had to drop a documentary about Gaza after it emerged the child narrating is the son of a Hamas official. Channel broadcast it. Obviously.
It all adds to the pressure onTim Davie. We now know the Director General was at Glastonbury on the Saturday, the day Bob Vylan performed. People are always looking for ways to criticise and attack the BBC. From news to its cultural offerings, it keeps giving them reasons to.
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