By Anita Singh
Credit: BBC
The BBC board has insisted it “fully supports” director-general Tim Davie over Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance.
Mr Davie, who was at the festival, learnt about Bob Vylan’s “death to the IDF chant” and rant about a “Zionist” record company boss shortly after they were made, The Telegraph disclosed on Monday.
However, he did not ask for the livestream to be taken down.
The corporation has now admitted that the band was flagged as “high risk” before the rap duo’s performance took place following a risk assessment by staff, but it was decided that there was no need to add a time delay to the livestream.
The BBC’s editorial team also opted not to cut away from the band when they made their offensive comments.
In a statement, the broadcaster said this was an “error”.
But Dr Samir Shah, the BBC chairman, said on Thursday: “The board fully supports the director-general and the swift actions taken by him and his team to identify these errors and address them.”
Mr Davie issued a message to staff that said: “Dear all, I wanted to write to you today about Bob Vylan’s appearance at Glastonbury.
“I deeply regret that such offensive and deplorable behaviour appeared on the BBC and want to say sorry – to our audience and to all of you, but in particular to Jewish colleagues and the Jewish community.
“We are unequivocal that there can be no place for anti-Semitism at the BBC. I and everyone need to ensure that the BBC is a role model for inclusivity and tolerance and we all have a part to play. We are utterly committed to creating an environment where everyone is supported and can do their very best work.”
He ended the message by saying: “Please continue to treat each other with respect and kindness.”
The BBC published a timeline of events following criticism from Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, who expressed anger that she had not received answers about what due diligence had been carried out before the festival.
The corporation admitted to “clear errors made both in the lead-up to and during Bob Vylan’s appearance”.
It said that Bob Vylan was one of seven acts deemed “high risk” but was still “suitable for livestreaming with appropriate mitigations”.
It decided that “compliance risks could be mitigated in real time” by using language or content warnings, later admitting this “was clearly not the case.”
The livestream of the performance was monitored “in line with the agreed compliance protocols” and a “number of issues were escalated”, the broadcaster said, but the editorial team’s decision not to cut the feed “was an error”.
“The director-general was subsequently made aware of what had happened and instructed the team that none of the performance should feature in further coverage,” the BBC said.
However, the live feed remained up until 8pm.
BBC unveil new regulations
Under a new package of measures, the BBC will make immediate changes to its livestreaming of music events, with any performances deemed high risk not being broadcast or streamed live.
“Editorial policy support” will be on site at major festivals and events to improve compliance processes and the speed of available advice. Staff will also be issued “more detailed, practical guidance” on the threshold for withdrawing a livestream.
Dr Shah said: “I’d like first of all to apologise to all our viewers and listeners and particularly the Jewish community for allowing the ‘artist’ Bob Vylan to express unconscionable anti-Semitic views live on the BBC.
“This was unquestionably an error of judgement. I was very pleased to note that as soon as this came to the notice of Tim Davie, who was on the Glastonbury site at the time visiting BBC staff, he took immediate action and instructed the team to withdraw the performance from on demand coverage.
“The BBC Board met on Tuesday to hear what actions will now be taken. The executive have agreed to put in place a set of strengthened editorial practices and policies for live music programming. These will be important measures to safeguard future live broadcasts from a failure such as this.”
He concluded: “I am satisfied that the executive is initiating a process to ensure proper accountability for those found to be responsible for the failings in this incident. While it is important that the process is carried out fairly and correctly, it is equally important that the executive takes decisive action.”
‘Accountability at highest levels’
On Thursday, Ms Nandy said she was not satisfied with the BBC’s response to the furore and demanded “accountability at the highest levels”.
She told MPs that the corporation’s leadership failed to provide her with answers as to how the performance was broadcast unedited.
She criticised the BBC for failing to carry out due diligence on the band after a new video emerged of its frontman, Bobby Vylan, saying “death to every single IDF soldier out there as an agent of terror for Israel” at a gig in London last month.
Addressing the House of Commons, Ms Nandy said: “I’m not satisfied with the response I’ve had.
“I’m not satisfied with that and I have gone back to the BBC leadership to ask for further information – in particular about the failure to pull the live feed, about the due diligence that was done prior to deciding to screen this act and also about the level of senior oversight that took place in the BBC during the Glastonbury weekend.
“I think the BBC leadership will hear and have heard the strength of feeling in this House about this, and I expect further answers to be forthcoming imminently.”
Ms Nandy added that there is “a very important distinction between independence and accountability.”
She went on to say: “Given the seriousness of what happened and in particular the absolutely shocking stories of the impact this has had on the Jewish community in this country – given the seriousness of this – I would expect there to be accountability at the highest levels.”
Stuart Andrew, the shadow culture secretary, accused the BBC of failing to supply “even basic facts” about what went wrong.
He said: “There were hundreds of BBC staff there and not being able to identify who ultimately had the final decision on whether to broadcast or not is not acceptable.
“I think the chairman needs to inform [Ms Nandy] as a matter of urgency who that was and what action they are going to take.”
Ms Nandy telephoned Mr Davie on Saturday afternoon after learning of Bob Vylan’s performance, which is now being investigated by Avon and Somerset Police.
On Monday night, she summoned Dr Shah for an explanation of events.
Mr Davie apologised to the BBC’s Jewish staff this week, admitting he was “appalled” by Bob Vylan’s behaviour and reassured them that “there is absolutely no place for anti-Semitism at the BBC”.
More than 100 staff members have written an open letter describing the corporation as “PR for the Israeli government” and calling for Sir Robbie Gibb to be removed from the BBC’s board because he was previously a director of the Jewish Chronicle.