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Bullying at the BBC: Allegations made against World Have Your Say editor Mark Sandell

By Dominic Ponsford

New bullying claims have been made against a senior BBC journalist following the news last week that Radio 1 Newsbeat boss Rod MacKenzie had been moved from his job after an investigation.

The Mail on Sunday reports today that World Service World Have Your Say editor Mark Sandell has also been accused of bullying staff.

Last week it was reported that staff who work on BBC arts programmes including Front Row and Saturday Review had signed a petition complaining about "a culture of bullying".

Last year the Rose review investigated bullying and sexual harassment at the BBC in the wake of the Jimmy Savile Scandal.

It found there have been 37 formal complaints of sexual harassment over the past six years out of a total of 22,000 staff and 60,000 freelances. This was seen as being a comparatively low amount.

But the report did raise alarm bells about bullying and a culture of fear about speaking out.

The report said: “Concerns raised about bullying and other forms of inappropriate behaviour were much more prominent in contributions to the review than concerns raised about sexual harassment."

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