The BBC: Poppies and presenters

An editor at the BBC explains how they have no policy that presenters have to wear a poppy but that they do give ‘guidance’ on wearing them,

Jon Snow of Channel Four News has said on his blog that he has chosen not to wear a poppy on air, though he does wear one in his personal life. His view is that any symbol is a distraction. He’s discovered, or perhaps he already knew, that it is a controversial viewpoint.

As far as the BBC is concerned, presenters or reporters appearing on television can wear poppies if they want to. There is no rule that tells them they must do so. It is a matter of individual choice. The BBC does give some guidance on when to wear them, so that we can have some sort of uniformity on screen, though there is some flexibility in that too. We suggest starting to wear poppies a couple of weeks before Remembrance Sunday. That’s roughly when the Royal British Legion officially starts selling them. This year they started to do so on Saturday 28 October.

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