A BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ has been arrested on the use of the N-word company in a report on a racist attack in the UK, according to a BBC report and a post on the DJs Instagram.
David Whitely, who goes by the name Sideman on air, posted on Instagram on Saturday to say that he immediately left his position with Radio 1Xtra.
“I’m OK with process, I’m OK with waiting, within reason, for certain things to change, but the BBC sanctions the N-word said on a national television by a white person is something I can not rock with, Whitely said in the Instagram post.
In an email statement to NBC News, a 1Xtra spokesman Whitely called an “incredibly talented DJ.”
“Obviously we are disappointed that he made this decision. We wish him absolutely good for the future. The door is always open for future projects,” the spokesman said.
On July 29, the BBC released a report on a musician and an employee of the National Health Service who was hit by a car and suffered a broken leg, nose and cheekbone, according to the BBC.
Police said the suspects used the racial right during the attack, and that it was being treated as “race aggravated”, according to the BBC. The correspondent in the segment, who is white, used the full racial slur when reporting on the attack.
“This is a judgment error where I just can not smile with you through the process and act when all is well. I am happy to work with organizations until we get it all right, but this feels like more than getting it wrong, “Said Whitely. “The action and the defense of the action feels like a slap in the face to our community.”
The BBC initially defended the use of the N-word in reporting the story, saying that the victim’s family wanted the full extent of the attack to be heard by the public, but has since acknowledged that it was a mistake. made.
On August 6, about 18,600 complaints were made about the broadcast.
In an email sent to BBC staff by its director general Tony Hall, which was forwarded to NBC News, Hall acknowledged that the BBC “should have taken a different approach.”
“This is important journalism that the BBC needs to report on and we will continue to do so. Yet despite these good intentions, I acknowledge that we have failed to create the bottom line with many people. The BBC now accepts that we approach another at the time of broadcast and we are very sorry about that, “the e-mail states.
Hall added that the company “will strengthen our guidance on offensive language over our output.”
“Every organization needs to be able to recognize when it’s made a mistake. We’ve made one here. It’s important for us to listen – and also to learn. And that’s what we will continue to do,” he said.
