BBC inquiry does not need any helpers - Bruce Whitehead
A BBC Scotland presenter has been suspended from work pending investigation for alleged bullying.
There are unsubstantiated claims that Kaye Adams, who chairs a daily radio phone-in, "shouted and screamed" at junior staff. The correct stance for responsible journalists and commentators should be to refrain from commenting on what is a very serious matter for the broadcaster, presenter and, of course, those who made the allegations.
However, one newspaper columnist this week saw fit to publish a glowing character reference for Ms Adams in our national press, which sounded a few alarms for me.
When I walked into Sky News in 1992, kicking off my long and varied broadcast news career, I soon felt the lash of a bully's tongue. Without the training that other newsrooms offered to freelance staff, I clearly took time to learn the skills needed to make news reports. Many of the videotape editors were also under pressure from one particular editor who just couldn't control her temper.
Every newsroom I worked in had someone who really needed anger management training. At ITN, one notorious editor delighted in humiliating even long-serving staff for any tiny mistake, while other editors were like friendly uncles or aunts to us newbies. The Daily Mail newsroom also had a particularly foul-mouthed bully for decades, often pilloried in Private Eye Magazine.
The problem is that senior management often have a star-struck regard for successful editors or presenters and are terrified of losing them in case "ratings" suffer. Channel Four News audience figures are well below other news programmes, but it's usually they who win the awards.
None of this is to comment on the Kaye Adams case. But it cannot be right for friends of hers with access to national coverage to cast doubt on the bravery of alleged victims ("in fifteen years... never had any issue been raised").
The BBC's "Call it Out" scheme, introduced after a string of abuse cases, should be allowed to run its course without grandstanding by biased mates.