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The BBC issued a forceful denial after The Guardian reported that the broadcaster would refuse to air an episode of a David Attenborough-narrated documentary collection for concern of angering conservatives.
5 episodes of the present, known as “Wild Isles,” doc the numerous pure species across the British Isles. The Guardian reported {that a} sixth episode specializing in the decline of these species would solely be out there on BBC’s streaming platform, iPlayer, as an alternative of airing in a prime-time Sunday slot.
The BBC, which has been selling the collection closely in anticipation of its debut this week, stated The Guardian’s reporting was “completely inaccurate,” and denied {that a} sixth episode was ever a part of the collection.
“Wild Isles is — and at all times was — a 5 half collection,” the BBC’s press workplace stated in a statement.
The World Wildlife Fund, one among two environmental charities that helped fund the undertaking, said that what The Guardian described as a sixth episode was truly a “complementary documentary” that was “impressed by the collection.”
The Guardian stated it had heard from a number of senior sources on the BBC, one among whom stated the community was bowing to strain from right-wing lobbying teams with “dinosaurian methods.” The supply additionally criticized the choice to separate the conservation message from the primary attraction.
“Frankly, this concept that you just type of put it in a separate programme to virtually parcel it to at least one facet is disingenuous,” this supply stated, per The Guardian. “Why don’t they combine these tales into all of them on the time?”
The BBC fielded earlier criticism from The Telegraph over taking cash from the WWF and the Royal Society for the Safety of Birds. As a result of the BBC receives its funding by taxpayers, it’s broadly not speculated to advocate for particular public insurance policies, and the charities had not too long ago come out in opposition to a authorities plan to loosen improvement rules.
Attenborough, nonetheless, has lengthy been an outspoken voice on the pressing want to reply to environmental destruction and local weather change. In 2018, a ballot discovered him to be the most well-liked individual in Britain, adopted carefully by Tom Hanks.
The BBC’s impartiality mandate sparked one other controversy this week in its sports activities programming, after longtime soccer commentator Gary Lineker slammed a British authorities proposal to curb migration. Lineker was compelled to “step again” from presenting, resulting in a livid response from sports activities followers.
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