BBC Apologises After "Manchester United Are Rubbish" Appears On Ticker

BBC News made an on-air apology after a message on their ticker was accidentally posted labelling Manchester United football club as “rubbish”. 

During a broadcast on Tuesday, news stories from the day were put on the news ticker for viewers to see. However, at one moment, the ticker bizarrely read “Manchester United are rubbish”. The line popped up at the bottom of the screen during a tennis update on the 9am to 10am broadcast, following which the unusual moment caught the attention of internet users, who shared a clip on social media. 

what is going on with the BBC News ticker?#MUFC #BBC pic.twitter.com/NkAiXkysg0

— احمد ???????????????? (@Ahekh4) May 24, 2022

As shown in the video, a segment from the French Open was playing while the ticker was presenting various headlines at the bottom of the screen. At first, it showed nothing out of the ordinary, but then things took a turn when the media outlet accidentally labelled the football club “rubbish”. The ticker was followed by “Weather rain everywhere”. 

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The incident left social media users perplexed. Reacting to the mistake, one user wrote, “poor trainee must be mortified! Imagine if that's their first day”. Another added, “even the BBC News ticker is laughing at Manchester United,” while a third user said, “Apology by BBC News after a trainee, learning how to put text on the ticker (the headlines that run along the bottom of the screen) accidentally published the words “Manchester United are rubbish” live on the broadcast... Fair and accurate reporting, IMO (In My Opinion).”

Later in the day, BBC Broadcaster Annita McVeigh, who was presenting at the time, apologised to viewers and to Manchester United fans who may have been offended.

UPDATE: BBC News have apologised.

They say that a trainee was learning how to write text for the ticker and accidentally published them onto the BBC News Channel. pic.twitter.com/OkjPIkJAoo

— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) May 24, 2022

Ms McVeigh explained that the mistake had occurred as someone was learning how to operate the ticker and was “writing random things, not in earnest”. The presenter apologised and further reiterated that it was a mistake. She added that the ticker wasn't meant to appear on the screen. According to The Independent, BBC in a statement also stated that there was a “technical glitch” during training with the test ticker.