Annie Mac was my idol growing up. Her BBC Radio 1 show on a Friday evening signalled the start of the weekend. I wanted to be a DJ and radio presenter like her. (There’s still time, right… right?) Macmanus no longer presents on BBC radio, but co-hosts the BBC Sounds podcast Sidetracked, alongside Nick Grimshaw.
Since October 7, 2023 my love for Annie Mac has declined somewhat. She regularly churns out anti-Israel rhetoric on her widely followed social media channels. Today, we reached a new low. Macmanus posted a video to her 597,000 Instagram followers supporting Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel – BDS. She told those followers to use an app “which aids you to shop ethically and has a specific section for priority BDS targets.”
This is not the place to discuss the foulness of the BDS movement, nor the nuances, specifics and complexities of the awful situation in Gaza. What needs saying here is that Annie Mac’s post likely creates issues relating to the BBC’s social media guidance. (That’s the guidance written to help Gary Lineker but that he still managed to contravene.) A reminder, the guidance says:
Everyone who works for the BBC should ensure their activity on social media platforms does not compromise the perception of or undermine the impartiality and reputation of the BBC, nor their own professional impartiality or reputation and/or otherwise undermine trust in the BBC.
Annie Mac BDS Call And BBC’s Social Media Guidelines
Even as a freelance music podcast presenter, there is surely a case to answer that by posting such extreme things, Annie Mac’s social media actions “undermine trust in the BBC”. A senior BBC insider said:
It’s shocking that once again a BBC personality is using their huge social media platform to take sides over the Gaza war and promote the myth of genocide, as if they have some special dispensation from its social media rules. Question now is whether the BBC will turn a blind eye or continue using their services.
I contacted the BBC press office for comment. At the time of writing, I have received no response.
Sidetracked co-host and Radio 6 Music breakfast presenter Grimshaw, another figure I’m a fan of, has sailed close to the wind too. A couple of days after the Glastonbury debacle, he proudly announced on his show that he was going to see Amyl and the Sniffers, Fontaines DC and Kneecap. All three bands are known for their anti-Israel stances. Grimshaw is more than entitled to like these bands and go to their gigs. Shouting about it on a BBC radio station is less ok, particularly in the context of the Glastonbury backlash. It felt like an anti-Israel dog whistle that the host knew he was blowing.
In all likelihood, nothing will happen to Annie Mac. It will blow over or the BBC will find some way to mitigate what she’s done. At some point though, the BBC need to make more strident decisions about the way people associated with them behave.