The BBC has “sincerely” apologized over a report on the death of Matt Beard, the former Liverpool women’s manager who took his own life last month.
In a story on the BBC Sport website on Monday, the UK national broadcaster published details about the method of Beard’s death by suicide.
The information, based on a coroner’s hearing, was carried in the headline and body of the story, which was sent out as a push notification to users. BBC Sport has 8.5M weekly active accounts.
The story has since been edited, with references to suicide removed from the headline. A trigger warning about “distressing” content is also contained within the story. A reference to the method remains within the piece.
In a statement, the BBC said it received complaints from readers who felt that the story about Beard was “insensitive” because it included “inappropriate detail.”
The BBC responded: “It was not appropriate to include specific details of Matt Beard’s tragic death in a recent headline and push notification reporting on the coroner’s court hearing.
“We sincerely apologise for the distress this may have caused and will ensure that all future coverage of sensitive issues strictly follows best practice and established guidelines.”
The BBC’s editorial policy states: “References to suicide should be avoided in headlines unless editorially justified.” The BBC also broke broader reporting conventions around suicide, including Samaritan guidelines that advise against reporting the method of suicide.
Among those who made a complaint about the Beard report was Becky Taylor-Gill, a freelance sports producer who has worked with BBC Sport. Taylor-Gill said she raised the matter with a senior editorial staffer and encouraged others to complain to Ofcom, the UK media regulator.
“Shocked and saddened by the BBC’s reporting around Matt Beard’s death. It cannot be overstated how dangerous, triggering and negligent sending a push notification to people with that information is,” Taylor-Gill said on X/Twitter.
Beard died on September 20 in Chester. He led Liverpool to Women’s Super League titles in 2013 and 2014. More recently, he had a spell with Burnley but resigned in June after just two months. Tributes have been paid to Beard from across the football community.
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