Gary Lineker/BBC Asylum Controversy - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: Gary Lineker/BBC Asylum Controversy (/showthread.php?tid=381)

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RE: Gary Lineker/BBC Asylum Controversy - Brekkie - 10-03-2023

The PFA (Professional Footballers Association) saying tonight they will back any player who refuses to engage with broadcast duties as a result of the BBC's action.

https://twitter.com/henrywinter/status/1634309703369912328 

(10-03-2023, 10:40 PM)interestednovice Wrote:  Any freelancer has primary clients, and it is not unreasonable to by bound by employee-style agreements in favour of the interests of that primary client.

I doubt courts would have much issue with the principle, it would be more whether the precise wording in Lineker’s contract (and associated documents plus BBC guidance) actually restricted what he should say, if so how much, and did what he said cross that line. Something we can only speculate on now because we clearly haven’t seen his contract.

Anyway, if things get ugly I doubt we will end up with a court case - Lineker will probably just go to a rival broadcaster who would no-doubt offer him a decent package to sign up with them.

That's true but it's pretty clear that Lineker views that the contract does not prevent him criticising the government of the day and that the BBC have somewhat accepted that and want to update his contract to curtail his freedom of speech, then apply it retrospectively.

Any employment tribunal would laugh the BBC out of court - contracts and process are literally law when it comes to tribunals and unless the employer has followed it to the letter it is very unlikely the verdict would be found in their favour.

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RE: Gary Lineker/BBC Asylum Controversy - UTVLifer - 10-03-2023

(10-03-2023, 10:56 PM)DeMarkay Wrote:  So a quick round up of what I’ve seen on here and Twitter… the BBC, Tim Davie and Richard Sharp have f****d themselves in the a**e.

Am I right?

Agreed.

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RE: Gary Lineker/BBC Asylum Controversy - agentsquash - 10-03-2023

Of course, Gary leads the News at Ten. Wonder how much coverage we’ll get tonight.

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RE: Gary Lineker/BBC Asylum Controversy - XIII - 10-03-2023

(10-03-2023, 10:53 PM)Jeff Wrote:  

(10-03-2023, 09:35 PM)Lester Wrote:  The rule about impartiality on social media is completely right for people that work on BBC News but a guy that presents a football analysis show who's not even directly employed by them? Just seems bizarre to me. Massive misstep. I'm pro BBC but am puzzled about their actions here. This clearly comes from the top and THEIR political allegiances aren't exactly impartial.

Part of the issue (and as evident by the discussion in this thread, there are a lot of layers to this) is for a person in the position Linekar is in (i.e., one of the BBC's highest profile presenters who hosts their flagship sports program), he has arguably sailed too close to the wind generally when it comes to toeing the very murky line between him expressing his political/personal views and the impact him expressing said views would have (rightly or wrongly) on how people perceive a publically-funded media corporation. Yes, Linekar isn't bound by the same strict impartiality rules those who work for BBC News are (and the BBC's suggestion today that he seemingly is is in itself bizarre). However, that doesn't mean though that him (over a long period of time) expressing political views in a way whereby it has a wider impact on how some people perceive a media corporation they legally have to pay a fee to access isn't an issue for said corporation.

Has the BBC handled this incident well - hell no. In typical BBC navel-gazing fashion, they've dragged out an issue that could have been dealt with within 24 - 36 hours into a multi-day story whereby they would be criticized no matter what they ultimately did. Not to mention their alleged 'solution' to the story (i.e., asking Linekar to effectively apologise for what he said) poured petrol to the metaphorical fire when they could have handled this in a much better way (e.g., sitting down with Linekar for a discussion about their concerns with his tweet). However, a lot of the reaction today has been over-the-top at best and hysterical hyperbole at worst.

It's not the same for commercial broadcasters and media companies because they're not bound by the same guidelines but I wonder if things would be easier to insert clauses about using your social media outlets. I think a lot of celebrities and people in the public voice often don't think before tweeting and that's what get them in hot water.

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RE: Gary Lineker/BBC Asylum Controversy - Spencer - 10-03-2023

(10-03-2023, 10:53 PM)Jeff Wrote:  Has the BBC handled this incident well - hell no. 

Surely, whatever your political viewpoint or opinion on what’s been said, it’s hard to imagine how the BBC could have handled this any worse.

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RE: Gary Lineker/BBC Asylum Controversy - Will - 10-03-2023

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https://twitter.com/adambienkov/status/1634272411251101703?s=46&t=jWc_YnyETW1Yfjb8gq7DQQ 


The can of worms has well and truly been opened.

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RE: Gary Lineker/BBC Asylum Controversy - XIII - 10-03-2023

In the case of the likes of Lord Sugar or Mark Gatiss, The Apprentice is made by Fremantle and MGM TV so he's not actually employed by the BBC per se, Gatiss created Sherlock through Hartswood Films which again is an indie.

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RE: Gary Lineker/BBC Asylum Controversy - Kojak - 10-03-2023

(10-03-2023, 11:03 PM)Spencer Wrote:  

(10-03-2023, 10:53 PM)Jeff Wrote:  Has the BBC handled this incident well - hell no. 

Surely, whatever your political viewpoint or opinion on what’s been said, it’s hard to imagine how the BBC could have handled this any worse.

All they needed to do... was nothing. Just ignore what he said and carry on as normal. But they couldn't even do nothing. Literally the easiest option there, and they chose to make things harder for themselves.

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RE: Gary Lineker/BBC Asylum Controversy - Adsales - 10-03-2023

(10-03-2023, 11:05 PM)XIII Wrote:  In the case of the likes of Lord Sugar or Mark Gatiss, The Apprentice is made by Fremantle and MGM TV so he's not actually employed by the BBC per se, Gatiss created Sherlock through Hartswood Films which again is an indie.

Gary is NOT employed by the BBC!

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RE: Gary Lineker/BBC Asylum Controversy - Kojak - 10-03-2023

(10-03-2023, 11:05 PM)XIII Wrote:  In the case of the likes of Lord Sugar or Mark Gatiss, The Apprentice is made by Fremantle and MGM TV so he's not actually employed by the BBC per se, Gatiss created Sherlock through Hartswood Films which again is an indie.

I was making a point, XIII. Anyway, Gary Lineker isn't actually employed by the BBC per se. He is freelance. And he is not a newscaster or reporter - so none of what he says about anything should impact his work with the BBC.

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