BBC Bullying Review Finds “No Evidence Of Toxic Culture” But Says Behavior Of Small Number Of Individuals “Disproportionately” Affects Reputation & Morale

A small number of individuals’ behavior “disproportionately” affects the BBC‘s culture, morale and reputation, a long-awaited BBC review has found, but it denied the corporation has a culture of toxicity.

The Workplace Culture Review said there are a few employees who “behave unacceptably and their behaviour has not always been addressed.”

It outlined a number of recommendations including a reset of behavioural expectations, a “call it out” culture to be promoted and the use of “real-time culture data” including, intriguingly, the development of a “dashboard to monitor culture indicators.”

The review from Change Associates examined toxicity more broadly following a string of scandals but concluded there was “no evidence of a toxic culture,” which will be of relief to BBC top brass.

Sparked by Huw Edwards

The review was sparked by disgraced ex-news anchor Huw Edwards’ guilty plea. Bullying and misconduct at the BBC had been under the microscope following a series of allegations made against top talent and senior figures including the likes of Russell Brand, Gregg Wallace and our own investigation into Breakfast boss Richard Frediani.

While Director General Tim Davie has urged a “zero tolerance” approach, leaked emails from the BBC’s news and content bosses last week exposed a “really concerning” level of confidence over how the corporation handles bullying and harassment complaints, and in its whistleblowing procedures. We then revealed that BBC employees are keeping their jobs even when they have been the subject of an upheld sexual harassment complaint.

Today’s review comes more than a decade after the BBC’s 2013 Respect at Work Review led by barrister Dinah Rose in the wake of the Jimmy Savile allegations. This review resulted in a deluge of complaints about BBC power players from nearly 1,000 staff including allegations of a manager sexting graduates and a female journalist being offered a promotion on the condition of a sexual liaison at her boss’s country cottage.