Match of the day tonight

Big ears is off. Bit different with these pundits doing one Interesting that some were not to show this solidarity gig with the abused migrant workers, women, or people in Qatar subjected to human rights abuses.
Lineker etc virtue signal when the target is a Conservative Government.

Quite looking forward to it tonight..

 

They aren’t showing solidarity for what he said, but for his right to say it. Power to their elbow I say.

 

Lineker has a big clumsy mouth on social media but he’s entitled to his views even if you disagree with them. He didn’t state his political views on air so he did nothing wrong imho.
If the politicians had simply ignored his rant instead of reacting to it that would have been better all round.

 

Absolutely, had he said anything about his views on air that’s another thing. But on his own personal twitter account he can say what he wants (within normal boundaries obviously) .

 

I actually preferred MOTD without commentary!!

 

Almost there .. his contract with BBC says impartial attitude in so many words. LINEKER is just being pig headed he flatly refused to discuss the situation... or else the paper and paper qoutes and bits of film shown on different outlets are fake ..... was asked if .. he said no. [ hence my original post saying is he looking for a golden handshake / way out of BBC contract ]

 

Have you seen his contract? , can you put it on here so we can all read it!

as I said in a previous post the devil is in the detail, if he’d broken, or gone against his contract the BBC would say so, they haven’t , they’ve said they told him to step back from MOTD “until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media”. That’s their actual wording. It’s obvious from the way it’s worded an agreement isn’t in place at the moment. Therefore he hasn’t broken his contract. The BBC have dug themselves into a hole , even if they aren’t being leant on by the tories, the appearance is that they are.

imo part of the reason other sports presenters, journalists and commentators are sticking up for Lineker is because they believe if the BBC are allowed to get away with it with Lineker, they’ll be the next in line.

 

if it was put on here you likely might not understand it. ...LOL it is much vaunted about loads of staff at the BEEB from the top down to the bottom .. impartialality and non political ...

 

Context and actual wording Is important, I’ve not seen his actual contract , so I can’t comment, but I would imagine impartiality and non political refers to whilst working for the BBC, not in his own time, on his own twitter account. I believe others such as Alan sugar, have actually written on theirs advising people which party to vote for,at the last election & it isn’t Labour. The head of the BBC has also donated money to the Tory party, these are neither impartial nor non political.

 

That could be irrelevant. Impartiality rules can include social media being used in your own time. Gary Lineker is the BBC highest paid star, he is obviously synonymous with the BBC, his behaviour brings into question the BBC's impartiality. That salary would come with expectations to not bring the BBC into disrepute. This will all turn on whether the requirement for BBC staff to be impartial is universal, or restricted only to their area of speciality.

 

I didn’t say I agree with his views, but I absolutely believe he, or anyone for that matter, has the right to express them. I personally believe taking that right away from anyone must only be as a last resort, and being a sports presenter, no matter who you work for doesn’t justify taking someone’s free speech away from them. I understand however if you are a political presenter/ journalist for the BBC that probably does, in order to maintain impartiality.

Another string to this story is that it appears the motivation for the BBC talking to Lineker is that they were pressurised by the Tory’s. The BBC must NEVER be pressurised by any party whatever colour they are, that really is lacking impartiality, is obviously not non political and frankly is just dangerous.

 

Is Lineker paid more than the head of the BBC, you know the one thats a Tory party donor? , is he more of a face of the BBC , or is he not covered by these so called contracts?

 

Mr Lineker is the BBC highest paid star. He is a face of the BBC. He is presenter of match of the day. He is a public face of the BBC. Mr Lineker would not be employed without a contract.

You may be attempting to make a point about Richard Sharp, which I do not understand.

 

Lineker is a freelance sports presenter, he isn’t an employee of the BBC, also impartially rules only apply to the news presenters/journalists, not sports presenters.

from the statement the BBC put out it’s obvious they don’t have an agreement in place with Mr Lineker at present in relation to his social media usage, because their statement says they told him to step down until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media”. That’s their actual wording.

 

You may be attempting to make a point about Richard Sharp, which I do not understand.[/QUOTE]

My point really is more about the governance of the BBC in general, although Mr Sharp is a part of it.


Doesn’t that bother you? , and isn’t it more of a threat to impartiality and being non political than one tweet by a sports presenter ?

 

Do they? Could you highlight these rules?

I think you are suggesting that Gary Lineker is being paid over a million pounds a year by the BBC without contractual agreement. In BBC pay disclosures employees who are paid over certain amounts are identified, at the top of this employee list is Gary Lineker.

BBC annual reports identify its Royal charter = The BBC must be impartial. All of it.

 

Why would the BBC issue a statement
Saying they told him to step down until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media” if they already had one ? . Plainly they wouldn’t