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Major questions are being raised about a senior BBC Wales Editor who attacked the Crossrail 2 project as “UK taxpayers subsidising London’s local transport system” in a late night tweet, The Eye can reveal.
The tweet by the corporation’s Welsh Affairs Editor, Vaughan Roderick, comes after we showed how he used Twitter to compare the union with England to an abusive relationship in another late night tweet.
This outburst came days before the closely-fought referendum on Scottish independence and as a programme about the vote presented by him was preparing to be transmitted.
Corporation staff had to be reminded of internal guidelines soon afterwards.
Mr Roderick has also said – again on Twitter – ‘The History Guy’ (presenter Dan Snow) used ‘national’ in an archaic British sense, and it was not a good look for BBC Wales.
In reply, another senior BBC Wales journalist said: “… to be fair London does generate 30% of entire UK tax take”.
The tweet was quickly re-tweeted by a right-wing nationalist called Royston Jones, who writes under the pseudonym ‘Jac O’ the North’, and is a supporter of the 1960s paramilitary organisation Free Wales Army.
The then head of BBC Wales news and current affairs, Mark O’Callaghan, was forced to remind staff of the importance of impartiality afterwards.
He sent them a link to the corporation’s guidelines about twitter.
That controversy came hard on the heels of another incident when a senior UK BBC Editor was reprimanded and removed from an election when she tweeted an anti-UKIP message before a European poll (see – tmblr.co/ZwCEOs1Gj-yEO ).
Jasmine Lawrence had tweeted sarcastically: “#WhyImVotingUkip – to stand up for white, middle class, middle aged men w sexist/racist views, totally under represented in politics today.”
BBC personnel were then warned not to “do anything stupid.”
Yet Mr Roderick is a keen user of Twitter.
The Eye showed how he used it to attack WalesOnline for repeated ‘stories’ about the bar Coyote Ugly in Cardiff which shows women dancing for largely male customers.
Mr Roderick said sarcastically: “I’m presuming @WalesOnline has a full time Coyote Ugly correspondent. Maybe they and @dailypostwales might cover politics occasionally.
“This is becoming something of an obsession for @WalesOnline.”
Paul Rowland, the editor of WalesOnline who has threatened to sue our Editor following a satirical piece, hit back with: “Must be nice to do one radio show a week (Sunday Supplement on BBC Radio Wales) and not have to worry about whether anyone listens to it”.
But both Mr Roderick and WalesOnline are contentious in the media world.
Mr Roderick apparently broke BBC guidelines when he attacked a colleague by saying Dan Snow had used the word ‘national’ in an archaic British way.
They also state the reputation of The BBC must not be undermined, despite the fact Mr Roderick criticised the corporation for allowing the term.
The guidelines make clear that criticising BBC colleagues is forbidden: “(You) Should not use the Internet in any way to attack or abuse colleagues.”
Mr Roderick’s Twitter account says the views are “personal” not those of The BBC but to other journalists, for the public these are also the views of the corporation’s ‘Welsh Affairs Editor’.
One BBC Wales insider told The Eye: “Of course you are allowed to have your own views.
“But if you broadcast them on Twitter that’s just the same as standing up on TV and giving them.
“It’s ridiculous.”
Tomorrow more disturbing revelations about convicted fraudster who worked at a controversial Welsh university.
