These are bruising times for the BBC as it lurches from one crisis to another.
Over the past 18 months, the corporation has been beset by scandal, admonished both by the political left and right and accused of cover-ups, grave lapses in editorial judgment and impartiality. Masterchef, Huw Edwards, the Ofcom-breaching Gaza documentary, bullying on Strictly, Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, Trump on Panorama: each new uproar has yielded scattergun mea culpas, resignations and painfully protracted enquiries into what went wrong.
Then came last month’s Baftas ceremony, during which the BBC broadcast the N-word, which was uttered by John Davidson, the Tourette syndrome campaigner and inspiration behind the movie I Swear, who suffers from involuntary tics. The BBC later apologised, claiming that producers overseeing the broadcast failed to hear the slur, thus allowing it to go out unedited. Their oversight had grim repercussions for the Black actors receiving their awards and on Davidson, who has endured mockery, criticism and a conspicuous lack of compassion in the aftermath.
All of which makes it a somewhat itchy moment for the Beeb to release a documentary about free speech, identity politics and the acceptability of certain words. Don’t Say a Word is a new podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live that endeavours to guide listeners through the choppy waters of today’s climate of outrage. The presenter is Nicky Campbell, a broadcaster who has spent much of his career hosting passionate discussions on TV and radio. Campbell says at the start, “It’s never been like this”, meaning the intensity of today’s culture wars and the debates that rage over how we should talk, laugh and be.
The podcast, of which there are two episodes so far, takes a relatively calm approach as it ponders such knotty questions as: when is it OK to ask a person of colour where they come from? Are the Beatles problematic? Should a disabled character always be played by a disabled actor?
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These are all interesting and pertinent questions that are, for the most part, handled with equanimity and lead to common-sense conclusions: “Run For Your Life”, the last track on Rubber Soul, is an objectively terrible song that exposes John Lennon’s misogyny, but that doesn’t mean we should “cancel” the Beatles. A person of colour being asked where they come from can be tiresome and actively racist, though there are times when it is asked in good faith and these things should be judged on a case-by-case basis.
But while, in contemplating the nuances of the culture wars, the show fulfils its brief, it is no Things Fall Apart, the series hosted by Jon Ronson, which launched in 2021 and dug down into the roots of our societal ruptures and showed us, in brilliant and painstaking detail, how we got from there to here.
By contrast, Don’t Say a Word skates breezily over themes that could do with far deeper examination. That it is packaged as a magazine show complete with recurring features, songs and jingles means that it suffers from glibness and an uneven tone.
There’s a nagging sense, too, that this series, which liberally uses words such as “clickbait” and “ragebait” to describe the deliberate fanning of today’s discourse, is in many ways a classic example of the genre. Free speech and freedom of ideas are lightning rod topics that draw large audiences and spark endless (and often fruitless) debate. What producer could resist?
None of this is to say these topics shouldn’t be covered by the Beeb; on the contrary, it is part of its remit to inform and educate as well as entertain. The corporation is full of skilled journalists and programme makers who should be making nuanced and considered series on difficult subjects, including those concerning free speech and censorship.
But perhaps, if the BBC is going to ask questions about what we can and can’t say, it should get its own house in order first.
Don’t Say a Word is on BBC Sounds
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