The BBC has defended its use of the N word during a report broadcast by the BBC News Channel and regional programme Points West last week.
The highly offensive term was aired during a report on a racially motivated attack in Bristol, during which the slur was allegedly used. The BBC said the decision to air the word uncensored was supported by the victim’s family.
The report in question detailed an attack on a 21-year-old NHS worker and musician known as K or K-Dogg, who had been hit by a car while walking to a bus stop. Police have said the incident is being treated as a racially aggravated attack due to the language used by the assailants. Four men have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
Since the report’s airing, 384 complaints have been made to broadcasting regulator OFCOM but no apology has yet been made by the BBC.
The BBC are yet to reveal how many complaints have been made to the corporation but that number is expected to come out when they publish their fortnightly complaints report.
In a statement on the BBC’s complaints website, the BBC said: “We accept that this has caused offence but we would like people to understand why we took the decision we did.”
It explained that the victim’s family “asked us specifically to show the photos of this man’s injuries and were also determined that we should report the racist language, in full, alleged to have been spoken by the occupants of the car.”
“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.”
A fundraiser to help the 21-year-old victim on his long road to recovery has generated more than £55,000.
