BBC reverses decision to uphold complaint against Naga Munchetty for discussing racism experience on air Ms Munchetty had a complaint upheld against her over comments made by Donald Trump

The BBC has reversed its decision to partially uphold a complaint against Naga Munchetty for speaking about racism on air.

The corporation’s Executive Complaints Unit had ruled that the BBC Breakfast host breached editorial guidelines when she condemned comments made by Donald Trump after he told female Democrats to “go back” to their own countries.

In the on air discussion Ms Munchetty had said that “every time I have been told, as a woman of colour, to go back to where I came from, that was embedded in racism”.

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She also said: “I’m not accusing anyone of anything here, but you know what certain phrases mean.”

Decision reviewed

Director-general Tony Hall wrote to all staff on Monday evening to say he had reviewed the incident and overruled the original decision.

He said said in an email that the ruling had “sparked an important debate about racism and its interpretation”.

“Racism is racism and the BBC is not impartial on the topic. There was never a finding against Naga for what she said about the President’s tweet.”

He added: “I have also examined the complaint itself. It was only ever in a limited way that there was found to be a breach of our guidelines. These are often finely balanced and difficult judgements.

“But, in this instance, I don’t think Naga’s words were sufficient to merit a partial uphold of the complaint around the comments she made. There was never any sanction against Naga and I hope this step makes that absolutely clear.”

Co-host complaint

The u-turn came after it was claimed that the original complaint had also been about Ms Munchetty’s co-host, Dan Walker, but only she had been found in breach.

David Jordan, The corporation’s director of editorial policy and standards, previously said that Mr Walker could not be included in the rebuke as he was not referred to in the specific complaint.

However a senior journalist at the BBC told The Guardian: “They’ve chosen to interpret the complaint as only being about Naga and made her a sacrificial lamb.

“The process is a mess. David Jordan has led two programmes to believe that the complaint wasn’t about Dan Walker when it clearly was.”

Lord Hall added that editorial and leadership teams have been asked to look at how the BBC manages live exchanges around topics of racism in future.

Public protests

The BBC has faced a backlash over its decision, with a petition calling for its decision to be reversed attracting more than 14,000 signatures.

Stars including Sir Lenny Henry, Gina Yashere and Adrian Lester told the BBC its position in rebuking Ms Munchetty was “deeply flawed” and “illegal” in a letter.

It had also been claimed that staff were warned against joining protests against the original decision.