The BBC’s new flagship regional current affairs show is in crisis after the corporation was forced to pull a second episode in less than a week.
Just days after it axed a We Are England documentary about a multimillionaire cryptocurrency founder – amid claims he actually was running a scam – the corporation yesterday pulled another programme over editorial concerns.
The broadcaster admitted positive coverage of student ‘wellbeing’ work at Caroline Flack’s former dance school had overlooked a damning Ofsted report which included claims students had been ‘fat shamed’.
The BBC said it had now removed this second We Are England programme, which aired on January 26, from its online iPlayer and had removed a related article on its website as a result.
The BBC admitted positive coverage of student ‘wellbeing’ work at Caroline Flack’s former dance school had overlooked a damning Ofsted report which included claims students had been ‘fat shamed’
This latest incident, which aired on the debut episode of the east of England region at the end of January, is hugely embarrassing for the new programme which replaced long running regional show Inside Out on BBC1.
The online article made no mention of Ofsted’s scathing criticism of the school, but instead highlighted its work in areas like mindfulness, yoga, talking therapy and ‘coping techniques’.
Ofsted’s report, published last June, reported that students told inspectors that some staff at the Bodywork Company performing arts school in Cambridge made ‘inappropriate comments’ to students ‘in front of their peers’.
It added that this has led to those students ‘having negative images of themselves and developing behaviours that are harmful to their health and well-being’.
The document said this included a few students choosing not to eat when they arrived home late from classes ‘for fear that they will gain weight’.
Ofsted said students had told inspectors that ‘looking beautiful’ had been ‘more valued’ by certain staff there than the student’s talent.
The inspection body said: ‘There are incidents of some staff discouraging students from going to auditions for roles when they may not have “the desired physique”.’ It added ‘governance arrangements’ there were ‘inadequate’.
The BBC’s online article, linked to the programme, instead talked about how in 2020 ‘weekly wellbeing sessions were added to the Bodywork timetable’ which allowed students ‘the chance to take time out and talk openly about their anxieties’.
Ofsted’s report, published last June, reported that students told inspectors that some staff at the Bodywork Company performing arts school in Cambridge made ‘inappropriate comments’
The school has since been ranked Good and replaced its governing body.
It comes just days after the broadcaster dropped another We Are England show, for the Midlands region, about a supposedly philanthropic cryptocurrency founder. It had been due to air last week.
Concerns were raised in that instance after the BBC posted an online article about how ‘successful’ trader Hanad Hassan, 20, had managed to turn an initial £37 investment into nearly £6million within a year.
Within hours it emerged that the ‘charity-focused’ cryptocurrency had been discontinued in October and further searches on social media revealed that investors had been making accusations of fraud for months.
Hassan has denied being a fraudster and said the claims were motivated by racism.
Yesterday the BBC posted a statement on its ‘corrections and clarifications’ page about the report about Caroline Flack’s former dance school.
In recognition of the problems on the show, the BBC revealed yesterday that a senior leader at the corporation will now take on the role of series editor for We Are England. There are different regional versions of the programme which air each week.
It came after an earlier episode was axed about Hanad Hassan, 20, over suggestions he was liked to an alleged fraud. He has strenuously denied these claims and said they were motivated by racism
A BBC spokesman said: ‘The We Are England programme focused on a school and its work on student wellbeing. It is no longer available to view online as the episode did not include relevant information and context about the school featured. We have also removed a related online article.’
The BBC said there were no plans to scrap the new show as overall it had been happy with the response to the series.
But it added that it was ‘looking carefully at how these editorial issues arose’ and had ‘moved to increase editorial support and supervision for the programme’.
Theresa Kerr, Principal of the Bodywork Company performing arts school, told the Daily Mail last night: ‘In response to an Ofsted monitoring report – Bodywork recognises that all students should feel supported and part of the college community.
‘The report highlighted key areas that required immediate attention and that some students have had negative experiences during their time with us.
‘We have worked hard over the last year to rectify these areas and strengthen our wellbeing provision and feel this was reflected accurately in the documentary.’
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