THE BBC has defended its decision to broadcast a news report in which a reporter said the n-word uncensored when quoting the words said to an NHS worker who was the victim of a racist attack.

During the news segment, which aired shortly after 10.30am last Wednesday, journalist Fiona Lamdin cautioned viewers that they were about to hear “highly offensive language”.

“Just to warn you, you’re about to hear highly offensive language because as the men ran away they hurled racial abuse, calling him a n*****,” Lamdin said.

Lamdin had been reporting on the attack in which two men intentionally drove a car into a 21-year-old man, known only as K-Dogg, before shouting racial abuse at him as they fled the scene.

Following the complaints the BBC stopped airing the version of the report that included the n-word.

‘Justified’

A spokesperson for the BBC told The Voice that the victim’s family had told them about the racist language and “wanted to see the full facts made public”.

Now a full response to the complaints has been issued by the BBC.

In it the broadcaster states that it would “never want our reporting to become the focus of such an important story”.

Despite acknowledging that the use of the word has offended people, the BBC has not apologised for its inclusion and chosen to defend its use, deeming it to be “editorially justified given the context”.

“Notwithstanding the family’s wishes, we independently considered whether the use of the word was editorially justified given the context. The word is used on air rarely, and in this case, as with all cases, the decision to use it in full was made by a team of people including a number of senior editorial figures,” the response reads.

It adds: “You are, of course, right that the word is highly offensive and we completely accept and understand why people have been upset by its use.

Context

“The decision to use the word was not taken lightly and without considerable detailed thought: we were aware that it would cause offence. But, in this specific context we felt the need to explain, and report, not just the injuries but, given their alleged extreme nature, the words alleged to have been used – a position which, as we have said, was supported by the family and the victim.

“These are difficult judgements but the context is very important in this particular case.”

The statement and lack of apology has prompted fresh criticism and questions.

William Adoasi, founder of Vitae London, tweeted: “So @BBCNews are sticking by and justifying the use of the N word on live television. Simply exhausting and a waste of our energy.”

Another individual who submitted a complaint to the BBC tweeted: “Filed a complaint to the BBC about the use of the N-word on live TV. Their response has made me angrier.”

“The BBC’s refusal to apologise for – and even defend its use of – the N-word illustrates the lack of understanding & systemic racism in the BBC. They never broadcast swearing in their news stories. In live broadcasts they immediately apologise for offence caused from swearing,” another wrote.

Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy tweeted: “I find it hard to believe the BBC would sanction the use of the F word or the C word on the news. So why the N word? Would also be interested to know how many black people were involved in the decision.”

BBC editorial guidelines instruct employees to ensure that strong language is “subject to careful consideration and appropriate referral, to ensure it is editorially justified, before it is included in our output”.

They also state that strong language “can be acceptable when authentic or used for clear purpose or effect within a programme” but direct staff not to use strong language before the watershed.