The BBC has upheld a complaint against newsreader Martine Croxall after she changed the term 'pregnant people' to 'women' and raised her eyebrows during a news channel broadcast in the summer. The corporation's executive complaints unit said her facial expression 'laid it open to the interpretation that it indicated a particular viewpoint in the controversies currently surrounding trans identity'.
Under BBC impartiality rules, news presenters cannot express views on controversial topics. The unit upheld 20 complaints about the broadcast, noting that Croxall's expression was 'variously interpreted by complainants as showing disgust, ridicule, contempt or exasperation'. BBC News management said she was reacting to 'scripting which somewhat clumsily incorporated phrases from the press release accompanying the research'.
Croxall had been introducing a story about heatwave risks based on a study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She said: 'Malcolm Mistry, who was involved in the research, says that the aged, pregnant people … women … and those with pre-existing health conditions need to take precautions.' The unit concluded that even accepting the management's explanation, the facial expression 'laid it open to the interpretation that it indicated a particular viewpoint'.
The incident went viral, attracting both praise and criticism. Author JK Rowling called Croxall her 'new favourite BBC presenter'. Croxall herself said on social media she was 'braced to be hauled before BBC bosses' and thanked followers for the attention. Both Croxall and the editorial team have been spoken to about the item.
