Complaint to BBC regarding Pete the Badge

[nefynblue]

I have received the same 'form of words' from Barbara Slater"s PA. However, at least my email was recognised and responded to within an acceptable time frame. That cannot be said about my complaint made through the BBC complaints portal. I've received nothing.

More worrying though, I emailed Simon Heggie on the same day ( Monday), and Vicky Kloss at MCFC. To date ive received no acknowledgment that my emails have even reached their attention, never mind any form of response to my concerns. It's poor form, and one would think that the club's PR department would have made contact, however basic, to acknowledge my email.

Anyway, for what it's worth here is my email. Maybe a line of enquiry worthwhile after the stonewalling at the BBC.

Dear Mr Heggie,
Yesterday (06/02/2017), I sent you an email of complaint, informing you of the inappropriate treatment a Manchester City supporter named Pete Green.
I have attached the original email below for you to read in case my original mail did not reach you, one of my intended targets.
I believe that you are the head of HR at MCFC. You are specifically responsible for communications and supporter relations in general. Therefore can I respectfully ask that firstly, you consider my initial email. Secondly, would you please inform me by return email the following answers to these questions.
1- whether as a club we should tolerate the ridiculing of a vulnerable supporter by a national institution, the BBC.
2- if you decide that we should not accept that sort of ridicule, what actions, as a football club will you oversee to redress this outrageous situation.
3- again, if you consider Pete was indeed treated shamefully by the BBC, what action do you intend to take to protect, and reassure Pete, and indeed all vulnerable supporters of MCFC, that the club takes bullying of this sort very seriously.

Mr Heggie, you hold,a very privileged position within the club, I would be grateful for a response from you.

I await your reply,

 

[wahablue]

It astounds me that no City supporter works for the Biased Broadcasting Co.Every company I,ve worked for,if someone cocks up news of it spreads like wild fire.Or now that they broadcast from the swamp,they don,t employ any blues,just asking.

 

[Fabled mabel]

Believe it or not it's: http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

I believe you entirely but i also believe that like many complaints sections online the bbc deliberately make them non- user friendly.

I don't think i am the only one being sent fruitledsly around the houses so an idiot guide on how to get through to where it matters would be appreciated by others and me.

Like you I am infuriated by the deceitful/disingenuous/outright lie from Miss Tsang which is dripping in insincerity and the reasons this whole thing came out from the once mighty BBC

 

[City Raider]

It astounds me that no City supporter works for the Biased Broadcasting Co.Every company I,ve worked for,if someone cocks up news of it spreads like wild fire.Or now that they broadcast from the swamp,they don,t employ any blues,just asking.

It's in all job descriptions. No Berties.

 

[cibaman]

I have received the same 'form of words' from Barbara Slater"s PA. However, at least my email was recognised and responded to within an acceptable time frame. That cannot be said about my complaint made through the BBC complaints portal. I've received nothing.

More worrying though, I emailed Simon Heggie on the same day ( Monday), and Vicky Kloss at MCFC. To date ive received no acknowledgment that my emails have even reached their attention, never mind any form of response to my concerns. It's poor form, and one would think that the club's PR department would have made contact, however basic, to acknowledge my email.

Anyway, for what it's worth here is my email. Maybe a line of enquiry worthwhile after the stonewalling at the BBC.

Dear Mr Heggie,
Yesterday (06/02/2017), I sent you an email of complaint, informing you of the inappropriate treatment a Manchester City supporter named Pete Green.
I have attached the original email below for you to read in case my original mail did not reach you, one of my intended targets.
I believe that you are the head of HR at MCFC. You are specifically responsible for communications and supporter relations in general. Therefore can I respectfully ask that firstly, you consider my initial email. Secondly, would you please inform me by return email the following answers to these questions.
1- whether as a club we should tolerate the ridiculing of a vulnerable supporter by a national institution, the BBC.
2- if you decide that we should not accept that sort of ridicule, what actions, as a football club will you oversee to redress this outrageous situation.
3- again, if you consider Pete was indeed treated shamefully by the BBC, what action do you intend to take to protect, and reassure Pete, and indeed all vulnerable supporters of MCFC, that the club takes bullying of this sort very seriously.

Mr Heggie, you hold,a very privileged position within the club, I would be grateful for a response from you.

I await your reply,

The club should have acknowledged your email. But I think they're in quite a difficult position. If they were to come out publicly and criticise the BBC couldnt they make the matter worse as far as Pete is concerned? Risk exposing him to further bullying? Perhaps they've contacted Pete and he wants let the matter lie, or at least wants the club to deal with it less publicly.

 

[cheekybids]

Can you send me link for complaints again pls

I received a fairly lame reply from the previous issue, heads must role for the offence caused to Pete, don't stop until we stop this blatant abuse and United bias!!

"The picture you refer to was used after it had been filed by a national picture agency, captioned “Bertie”, and was used in good faith and in a congratulatory way to celebrate the fan’s dedication to Manchester City. None of the team on the BBC Sport website were aware of “Bertie” as being a derogatory term to describe City fans – and other City fans also shared the post and mirrored our congratulatory tone.

However, as it was never our intention to cause offence, we have now removed this post for the avoidance of doubt. We are proud of our inclusive and celebratory approach to social media and work hard to ensure we are balanced across the sporting spectrum at all times.

We’re sorry you’ve had cause for concern."

I think the response needs to be that ignorance is no excuse & the BBC should pride itself on having its finger on the pulse when communicating to the world. This incident has ridiculed & more importantly made a vulnerable man who is easily identifiable a target of football fans by calling him a derogatory term.

Importantly how will you make amends & how will you ensure this never happens again.

If ignorance really is the truth then please do not allow your hacks to comment on anything as there are cultural differences that may not be as forgiving.

You lying twats!

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

I believe you entirely but i also believe that like many complaints sections online the bbc deliberately make them non- user friendly.

I don't think i am the only one being sent fruitledsly around the houses so an idiot guide on how to get through to where it matters would be appreciated by others and me.

Like you I am infuriated by the deceitful/disingenuous/outright lie from Miss Tsang which is dripping in insincerity and the reasons this whole thing came out from the once mighty BBC

Their complaints mechanism is a little frustrating but we'll get there in the end hopefully.

To escalate a complaint you need to submit a new one but reference the previous one. They should then get someone else to have a look at it. At some point it will go to the BBC Trust or OFCOM. My only concern is that they may be able to decide whether a complaint can go that far but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

 

[cleavers]

Ironic there are empty seats in the background

Not to mention the norwich fan.....the irony being the thing they were protesting against with those scarves about, the club owners, then sold them the scarves, if that doesn't sum that club up, I don't know what does.

 

[Fabled mabel]

Theu

Their complaints mechanism is a little frustrating but we'll get there in the end hopefully.

To escalate a complaint you need to submit a new one but reference the previous one. They should then get someone else to have a look at it. At some point it will go to the BBC Trust or OFCOM. My only concern is that they may be able to decide whether a complaint can go that far but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

thanks for that, due to being in dock with an unfamiliar phone and my 'wrong' specs i havee been struggling to actually give my fourpenn'orth

I am considering other means including Points of View.
The origial article plus yhe back up lie have got my back up far more than other anti city stuff ever has.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

I've submitted a follow up complaint so if I'm not happy with the response, I think we can then escalate it.

Location: England
First half of UK Postcode: M25
Type of complaint: General BBC
Complaint category: Offence
Contacted us before: Yes
Reason for contacting us again: Unhappy with previous response
Reference: 4218701
Complaint title: Unhappy with response to first complaint
Complaint description:
I submitted complaint reference CAS-4218701 on Wednesday 8th February regarding a post on the BBC MOTD Facebook page that was derogatory about a well known Manchester City fan. I (& others who had complained) received a response the following day which I regard as being of dubious veracity nd has made me even more angry. The response claimed that the derogatory caption has been part of a picture from a photo library presumably operated by a third party. I am dubious about the accuracy of the reply for several reasons: 1) The BBC have definitely used the same photograph previously with a different caption. There there is every reason to suppose that the photo was already in the possession of the BBC and the offending caption was added at the time it was used. You don't buy pictures with captions as far as I'm aware. So my belief is that it was added by a BBC employee. 2) It's almost inconceivable that no one at the BBC in Salford doesn't support either City or United and someone surely would therefore have been aware of the derogatory nature of the term 'Bertie' 3) A few years ago, as a high-profile City fan at the time, I did numerous pieces with the BBC, both for national and local TV & radio, including two features for MOTD. A couple of sources, plus the PR team at City, have intimated that the BBC themselves believe the offending caption was added internally and that serious action was likely against those concerned. So I am extremely sceptical about the reply received from Katherine Tsang and believe she's been fed a bullshit story by whoever gave it her. But even if I'm wrong and the BBC genuinely did buy in the captioned picture from a third party, I want the name of the third party so we can make a complaint to them if necessary or at least understand what happened. This is simply not going to go away so it would be better to front up now and apologise to the individual affected, either directly or via Manchester City.