The BBC ignored warning to review tweets by freelance presenters three years before Gary Lineker messed it up

EXCLUSIVE: In 2020, the BBC failed to fully heed advice that could have helped the broadcaster avoid a weekend of carnage over a single tweet from Gary Lineker, the highest-paid presenter.

A review of the BBC’s social media guidelines three years ago recommended looking at the rules specifically for freelance presenters such as Lineker, who presents the popular Premier League highlights programme. match of the day.

The revelation is likely to raise more questions about BBC director-general Tim Davie’s handling of the Lineker saga, as he admitted today that there are “grey areas” in freelance guidelines. Lineker earns £1.35 million ($1.62 million) a year from the BBC, along with other jobs including running WME-backed podcast producer Goalhanger.

Richard Sambrook, former director of BBC News and Emeritus Professor of Journalism at Cardiff University, has been called in to help draft new social media rules for BBC journalists in 2020.

Sources said Sambrook made about a dozen recommendations to Davie and senior staff, including conducting a separate review of policies for freelance presenters from the news.

There are concerns that his advice was not fully heeded, as it could have led to complications with presenter deals in a highly competitive on-screen talent market.

Sambrook’s report was never published by the BBC, meaning there is no public record of his findings and recommendations, other than the social media rules introduced as a result of his work.

The BBC added a short paragraph to its social media rules to deal with non-news stars like Lineker. It said presenters had “additional responsibilities” to the BBC on social media and “should avoid taking sides on partisan issues”.

Davie has now admitted it does not go far enough, launching a new review which will “examine existing social media policies, with a particular focus on how they apply to freelancers outside of news and current affairs”.

It suggests the current rules are open to interpretation, meaning Lineker could tweet last Tuesday drawing parallels between Britain’s immigration strategy and the rhetoric of Germany in the 1930s when the Nazis came to power.

A source told Deadline that the social media rules introduced in 2020 were not fully reflected in a five-year contract Lineker signed before the guidelines came into effect. This person said that the use of social media should be built into moderator contracts to avoid a repeat of what happened in the past few days.

“Obviously those guidelines were never reflected in the contract and probably not those of the many other freelancers at BBC Sport,” the source said. “If the BBC had sacked him they would have taken a full swing to pay him out of contract. Gary will never break his contract.”

Lineker was suspended on Friday, sparking a weekend of chaos at the BBC as dozens of his colleagues effectively went on strike, derailing the Premier League broadcast on TV and radio.

The BBC’s decision to resign Lineker led to claims that social media rules were inconsistently applied because other presenters were not penalized for tweeting political views.

Many have pointed out that Lord Sugar, the featured host of The Apprentice UK, went unpunished after urging people to vote Conservative and mocking former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn. As a “pan-BBC figure”, the BBC stressed that Lineker should be held to a higher standard than Sugar, who presents just one programme.

A BBC News insider said drivers were repeatedly warned about loopholes in social media rules. “Literally everyone with a brain and knowledge of social media said the current ones were conflicting and unclear when management imposed them. But they just kept going,” the person said.

Lineker Saga’s Tim Davie has weakened

Several BBC insiders said Davie had been badly damaged by the crisis and there was a general view among staff that Lineker had emerged victorious.

“One more impartiality, and that’s him [done]one person said. A second source added: “He abused it horribly. Lineker 1 – BBC 0, Tim Davie own goal.”

Although Lineker tweeted his thanks to Davie and said he had an “almost impossible job”, a third source pointed out match of the day Host did not apologize or delete his tweet.

Davie was up and running today after returning from Washington DC at the weekend, but his overseas trip complicated things.

Sources said BBC director of sport Barbara Slater and chief content officer Charlotte Moore were both heavily involved in efforts to resolve the Lineker problem, but they did not always agree.

“All these different positions meant it took so long for the BBC to have a clear position,” said a fourth person familiar with the negotiations. “There has been a lot of territorialism and it can continue.”

Others said the presence of BBC chairman Richard Sharp had complicated the Lineker crisis. Sharp is a Conservative Party donor who helped facilitate a loan guarantee for former prime minister Boris Johnson when he applied for his role at the BBC.

“The Sharp issue is becoming increasingly toxic and we cannot imagine putting up with a right-wing leader but raising a liberal voice,” a senior BBC executive said after Lineker’s suspension.

Numerous sources have indicated that Sharp has remained silent on the Lineker matter and that political pressure is mounting on him to resign amid an investigation into the Johnson loan.

Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labor Party, told ITV News: “I think Richard Sharp’s position is becoming increasingly untenable. I think most people looking at the complete mess of the last few days would be like, ‘How the hell is he still in position and Gary Lineker has been taken off the air?’

The BBC board, chaired by Sharp, welcomed Davies’ new assessment on social media. “Impartiality is a cornerstone of the BBC,” he said. “We believe now is the right time to address the clarity of the BBC’s social media guidelines and how to apply them. We will support the executive in their ongoing work to ensure the organization delivers world-class, unbiased content to all audiences.”