BBC Editor Tweets Anti-UKIP Political Bias

[vandamme]

Top BBC editor brands Ukip racist and sexist on Twitter: News channel boss accused of bias hours before the election


Top BBC editor brands Ukip racist and sexist on Twitter: News channel boss accused of bias hours before the election

- Jasmine Lawrence, 43, was accused of 'bias' and 'prejudice' against Ukip
- She took part in the ambush of the party's #WhyImVotingUkip on Twitter
- Called then: 'White, middle class, middle aged men w sexist/racist views'
- She has been taken off election coverage pending a BBC probe

By John Stevens

Published: 00:37, 22 May 2014 | Updated: 08:37, 22 May 2014


BBC News channel editor Jasmine Lawrence was accused of showing 'bias' and 'prejudice' just hours before today's election by writing the critical tweet

A BBC News channel boss claimed yesterday that Ukip stands up for white, middle class men with ‘sexist’ and ‘racist’ views.

Jasmine Lawrence was accused of showing bias and prejudice just hours before today’s election by posting the message on Twitter.

Mrs Lawrence had been due to help lead BBC News coverage of today’s local and European elections, but the corporation last night said she had been removed from that role as it launched an internal investigation. She has deactivated her Twitter account.

The 43-year-old wrote the tweet after Ukip encouraged its supporters to share reasons why they were voting for the party, with the hashtag #WhyImVotingUkip.

Mrs Lawrence, who is an editor on the rolling news channel and was duty editor for the 2010 general election, posted: ‘#WhyImVotingUkip – to stand up for white, middle class, middle aged men w sexist/racist views, totally under represented in politics today.’

Ukip leader Nigel Farage told the Mail: ‘For this senior figure in the BBC to show such prejudice when she works for the public service broadcaster is astonishing. If the BBC are serious about challenging bias she should be fired immediately.’

A BBC spokesman said: 'Jasmine Lawrence was tweeting from a personal account. She has been reminded of her responsibilities to uphold BBC guidelines. She has deactivated her Twitter account and will now be playing now part in the BBC's election coverage in coming days.'

Mrs Lawrence, who lives with her husband in a £475,000 house in Henley-upon-Thames, joined the BBC in 2001 and has held a number of roles within the corporation including running its Westminster desk.

In 2011 she joined a BBC team responsible for posting breaking news on Twitter before she was promoted to become an assistant editor on the BBC News channel in 2012.

On her LinkedIn profile, Mrs Lawrence, who has a private pilot’s licence, boasted: ‘I've been a journalist for 25 years with proven experience in both the commercial sector and within the BBC.

‘I am well versed in making decisions - frequently at speed. I have impeccable editorial judgment.’
She tweeted: posted: '#WhyImVotingUkip - to stand up for white, middle class, middle aged men w sexist/racist views, totally under represented in politics today'

'We voted Miliband. He edged it on comedy value'

Mrs Lawrence added: ‘The BBC is facing tough challenges ahead. We have to offer audiences something they don't get elsewhere, whether it’s original stories, creative treatments, more thorough analysis, or ideally all of the above.

‘Put bluntly, we can't justify the licence fee if we simply give audiences the same stories and same approach they find elsewhere. We need to be at our best when the audiences (new or otherwise) turn to us.’

The hashtag #whyimvotingukip started trending yesterday morning after the party posted on Twitter: ‘Why are you voting UKIP this year? Tell us, tell Twitter and let’s get it trending! #WhyImVotingUkip.’

Nigel Farage wrote on Twitter: ‘Delighted to see so many people announcing their intention to vote for UKIP tomorrow #WhyImVotingUKIP.’

But it was quickly ambushed by opponents of the party who posted sarcastic messages about the party and Mr Farage with the hashtag.

Joke responses including: ‘#WhyImVotingUkip: because, like the leader @nigel_Farage, I get a bit racist when I’m tired too.’

Another user posted: ‘#WhyImVotingUkip because voting far right and blaming minorities after an economic downturn worked so well before, let’s try that again.’

Mrs Lawrence last night deleted her Twitter account.

Mrs Lawrence lives with her husband in a £475,000 house in Henley-upon-Thames.

[Teddy Bear]

There is not even a pretence of impartiality within the BBC which shows just how much contempt they have for the paying public. It certainly makes our work here that much easier.
Perhaps they're hoping that the government will applaud their efforts to demonise UKIP and keep the licence fee going.

The positive thing with all this is just how many of the public are showing that they are not taken in with all the anti-UKIP propaganda generated by the BBC as well as most of the mainstream media. More and more will become conscious of just how twisted the BBC truly is.

[Teddy Bear]

Rod Liddle with a rant on the subject.

I’ve had it with the insufferable London elite. Have you?
Rod Liddle

‘I’ve had it with these people. They are so smug; they think they know everything and they know nothing. They want a good kick in the face.’

So said a close friend of mine, more usually a Labour voter, before she went out to vote for Ukip earlier today. I think it was the Jasmine Lawrence thing which tipped her over the edge. Jasmine is, improbably enough, the boss of the BBC’s News Channel. She had ‘tweeted’ that Ukip was a sexist and racist party - yesterday.

Of course, she should be sacked. Right now. The BBC’s News Channel is supposedly impartial – that’s what we pay for, an impartial service. Either that or the BBC should accept that all of its employees possess political views and there is no problem in having them aired. But it will not sign up to that more enlightened position because it knows that 90 per cent of them are as smug, and stupid, and bien pensant as Jasmine.

But it wasn’t just Jasmine, it was a whole bunch of other stuff too. The splenetic fury which the London elite sprays, mindlessly, upon those who do not agree with its views. I’ve had it with these people too, to tell you the truth.

[charmbrights]

Who was it said, "There is no such thing as bad publicity"?

All the BBC has done for days (weeks) is try to demonise UKIP but it just makes sure that everybody knows how afraid of UKIP the other parties are.

[Teddy Bear]

Heard it on Question Time, and again today on Any Questions, first question out of the dock is 'Is UKIP racist'. Naturally the 5 to 1 against panel make sure they reinforce that they are. The good think is that the UKIP representative is so 'common sensed', instead of the self aggrandizing pompous PC rubbish we are so used to, that for sure he is attracting more voters.

[charmbrights]

Interesting that on "Election Night" Alex Salmond complained that UKIP had four times the coverage that SNP did on BBC Scotland.