Late last week Jim Spence’s employers released a statement about him to the media.
I had expected it to emerge earlier in the week, but big organizations sometimes move slowly.
So today I contacted BBC PR at Pacific Quay as I had not seen it in any of the mass circulation newspapers and I was told that only the Scottish edition of the London Times had carried the statement (on Saturday).
Fair play to them for carrying it, but this should also have been a lead story in the sports pages of the big circulation newspapers given the importance of this story apropos the health and safety of all journalists in Scotland.
I really thought that the BBC’s statement assuring the public of their support for their man would have been widely carried in the Scottish media; after all he’s one of their own.
With that in mind you probably didn’t see the statement so here it is:
‘BBC Scotland deplores the abusive comments which have been directed at Jim Spence. He is an experienced and respected broadcaster and should not have to be subjected to such behaviour, whether online or in person. Jim continues to work for BBC Scotland’s sports team with our full support.’
The BBC has given Jim Spence the week off.
Perhaps his employers hope that this row will have blown over by then.
If it is still stormy when he returns then I hope that they stand by their guy.
He deserves nothing less.
