http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1773Fiona Bruce removes cross after PC debate
By SINEAD MCINTYRE Last updated at 21:33pm on 6th October 2006
She is more used to reading the headlines than making them.
So as the row over Fiona Bruce's cross necklace continued, the offending article was conspicuously absent as she presented the 10 o'clock News.
Her decision not to wear it comes as Jack Straw found himself accused of offending Muslims after revealing that he asks women to remove their veils during meetings.
The story led the BBC news agenda on Thursday night when Miss Bruce was presenting for the first time since it was revealed that governors had been agonising over whether her cross necklace might cause offence by suggesting a religious affiliation.
The Corporation is not thought to have received any complaints over the necklace, which the 42-year-old newsreader has worn may times over the years.
Nevertheless it was the subject of intense discussion between politically correct executives who argued that staff on screen should not wear anything hinting at political or religious leaning.
The debate began during a seminar about impartiality last month when hypothetical questions, including whether a female Muslim newsreader should wear the hijab, or headscarf, were considered.
It was brought up by Director of News Helen Boaden and led to some executives saying it should not be allowed.
The BBC insisted that Oxford educated Miss Bruce, a mother of two, had not been banned from wearing the cross.
However it was missing on Thursday when she presented the 10 0'clock News, which led with the highly sensitive Jack Straw story.
He has caused outrage amongst the Muslim community by admitting he asks women to remove their veils because he feels "uncomfortable" talking to someone he cannot see.
Miss Bruce also chose to leave her cross necklace off on Wednesday night when she attended a breast cancer charity dinner.
Last night a spokesman for the BBC said: "We don't have rules on what people can wear so its really up to her own discretion what necklace she chooses".
Original story
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1770BBC bosses in PC row over newsreader's cross
Last updated at 10:04am on 4th October 2006
Newsreader Fiona Bruce, wearing the
cross that sparked the row
Millions of women across Britain wear this small and insignificant piece of jewellery. But yesterday, in yet another example of PC gone mad, a necklace worn by TV newsreader Fiona Bruce sparked a row among BBC bosses.
The piece of jewellery in question was a small cross on a necklace, which the presenter recently wore while presenting the Ten O'Clock News.
She has worn it for some years, in fact, but now some at the BBC want to ban her from wearing the accessory, with a former policy-maker at the organisation describing it as "a potential mistake" that might suggest some kind of religious affiliation.
The BBC was debating whether a female Muslim newsreader should be allowed to wear a headscarf while reading the news when the issue over Ms Bruce's cross was brought up.
The matter was then brought to the attention to the director of BBC News, Helen Boaden who raised the matter in a meeting.
A source who attended the meeting said: "It was argued that BBC staff on screen should not wear anything which hints or directly points to a political or religious leaning and that the cross contravened this and should not be allowed."
Stephen Whittle, a former controller of editorial policy at the BBC said that the fact that Fiona Bruce had worn a cross while reading the news was a mistake.
"A newsreader should not let themselves get in the way of a story by wearing things that make the audience wonder about the newsreader's own position on a story," said Whittle.
It is understood, however, that Ms Bruce has not been asked to remove the necklace, and that the BBC does not have any official guidelines on the wearing of religious symbols.
