We wrote to the BBC about its new Director of Sport and his views on trans-identified male athletes
Read our exchange below
June 13 2024
Dear Mr Kay-Jelski,
We recently wrote to you asking you to ensure that BBC Sport retains its independence in the light of the updated IOC media guidelines - specifically the section on transgender inclusion.
May we now ask for reassurance in the light of this
article that you are able to make this decision, and look at these guidelines, in the full light of impartiality and the evidence of sex immutability and male advantage.
Every journalist holds and is entitled to hold personal beliefs but they should not be brought to a role and expressed as fact, where impartiality is required.
If you are unsure about the immutability of sex or about male advantage there are resources which can help you. We recommend that you meet with experts such as Ross Tucker, Emma Hilton, Jon Pike or Dr Nic Williams to help you understand the basic facts as grounded in peer-reviewed science.
The position 'trans women are women' is a belief that you are of course entitled to share but it is not scientifically supported. It's incumbent upon you as a public broadcaster to reassure the licence-fee payer that you will not bring this belief to your Sport Directorship.
It's a belief that deserves space in BBC journalism but should always be attributed and not expressed either explicitly or implicitly (via use of activist language) by the BBC itself.
We will also be in touch with Charlotte Moore and Tim Davie to urge a public statement on your commitment to impartiality and will copy you in to that email.
With thanks and kind regards
SiJ
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June 13 2024 To Tim Davie, Director-General and Charlotte Moore, Chief Content Officer
Dear Tim and Charlotte
We write to request a public statement to reassure the BBC audience that the new Director of Sport is able to act impartiality in his coverage of women's sport and the issue of inclusion of trans-identified males.
We know you will be aware of this article
on which the BBC has declined to comment.
We understand the BBC does not feel entitled to pass judgement on an article published elsewhere, but it is disrespectful to refuse to reassure the licence-fee payer that Mr Kay-Jelski is committed to impartiality on this extremely live issue, particularly when the Olympics are only a few weeks away.
The concerns about his personal beliefs, and whether he will bring them to his Directorship, are entirely natural, justified and shared by many people.
We have written to Mr Kay-Jelski expressing our view that every journalist is entitled to hold personal beliefs but they should not be brought to a role and expressed as fact, when impartiality is required.
We have also recommended a number of experts who may be able to give him further clarification, backed by sound science. It's clear that the BBC employs many journalists with gender identity affirmative views, but none have expressed them on the issue as clearly as Mr Kay-Jelski, and all are required to remain impartial at the desk.
The BBC has to be seen to be impartial, and while it may be reluctant to admit the need for a comment, it should be aware that declining to do so does not look neutral, but supportive of Mr Kay-Jelski's previously expressed position.
We would also be grateful if you could encourage Mr Kay-Jelski to take the opportunity to widen his contacts on the issue of trans inclusion in women's sport and speak to some of the biologists, sports scientists and researchers that we have recommended.
We've let Alex know that we are copying him in to this email.
Thank you so much for your attention
SiJ
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Thursday Jun 20
From: Charlotte Moore
Thank you for your email and letter, which I have read, as has Alex, who I’ve copied in on this reply.
Please find below a note from Alex in response to the points you raised.
We appreciate you taking the time to write.
Best wishes,
Charlotte Moore
Thursday Jun 20
From Alex Kay-Jelski
I am writing in response to the letter you sent to Tim Davie and Charlotte Moore, into which I was copied.
As you will be aware, I have recently joined the BBC as the Director of BBC Sport. Before joining the BBC I was a journalist working at different publications during a number of years.
The article I wrote in the Times was a number of years ago. In the article, I was making the point that there were not, to my knowledge, many transgender athletes performing at the top of their sport and consequently, they were not a major feature of elite sport.
I had no intention of being disrespectful to any former or current athletes. Instead, I was calling for kindness in the debate because I did not want my words to have the reverse effect and I have never called into question anyone’s expertise on women’s sport.
I am not a campaigner and I will not be advocating for any position in my role at the BBC. Anyone who works for the BBC is expected to leave their views at the door and approach issues with impartiality and under my leadership, BBC Sport will report these issues impartially.
I hope that makes the position clear.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Kay-Jelski
Director of BBC Sport
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Thursday June 20
Dear Charlotte and Alex
Thank you for this full and fair response.
It is reassuring to know that going forward Alex will work to ensure that the BBC reports the issue impartially. We want to trust that these efforts will be sincere, because BBC Sport has until now been entirely affirmative in its coverage.
In the last two weeks we are sure Alex has received more information on the subject than he can ever have expected. We hope very much he’s been able to study some of the data and science that concerned sports news consumers have troubled to send.
All of us know that the impartial position starts with the facts, and then assembles views around them. Unfortunately the BBC Style Guide has tied itself to the gender identity affirmative position, which might loosely be described as requiring journalists to adopt an anti-fact stance.
However Alex will find it helpful to understand that the Guide allows affirmation to be avoided if there are editorial reasons to do so: and it is arguable that in Sport, more than any other Hub, clarity about biological sex is paramount.
We have already seen that BBC Sport reported the recent Lia Thomas story in much more neutral terms. It was widely noticed on social media, with little pushback. If this is the beginning of a new approach, we very much welcome it.
As well as the terminology, there are so many missed stories on this issue. Alex will be able to reassure his journalists that these stories are welcome, they will get space, time and resources, and he will offer protection from activists who make unreasonable complaints. We look forward to this change.
We would make a point on the statement: it doesn’t take ‘many’ male athletes to displace women. It only takes one, to bump every female athlete down the rankings. Those who don’t win have still displaced a woman from a team spot, including at grassroots. The Washington Times recently reported that male athletes had taken female track titles in five US states. And it doesn’t take more than one male in a female changing room, when you are all stripped, to be a violating experience. These are issues that need reporting too. The ‘not many’ defence is unsustainable.
We do also think conversations with scientists such as Ross Tucker and Emma Hilton would be helpful. Coming over from a one-sided stance to neutrality is a journey, with the best will in the world, and the most effective leaders have always taken advice.
Once again, thank you for this full response to our request for a public statement. We appreciate that Alex has made this commitment and wish him well in his Directorship. BBC Sports coverage matters, and the world will be watching.
We will publish it on our X account and our Substack.
Thank you and kind regards
SiJ
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