Why hasn’t the accused BBC presenter been named?

National broadcasting service, the BBC is currently the focus of UK news coverage after an alleged scandal.

It comes as a top male BBC presenter allegedly paid a 17-year-old £35,000 for sexually explicit images.

The unnamed member of staff is currently suspended as the BBC investigates and works with the Metropolitan Police. 

The Sun broke the exclusive on Friday, July 7 as the BBC responded to the article with a statement saying: “We treat any allegations very seriously and we have processes in place to proactively deal with them.”

Since the news broke, public interest in who the unnamed BBC presenter is has continued to grow. 

The family of a teenager allegedly paid £35,000 by a BBC star for sexually explicit photos is said by the Sun to be upset by the corporation’s response.

Entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba had more details on #bbcbreakfast https://t.co/ihZqSs8Q4H pic.twitter.com/IYqEDsLtqc

— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) July 10, 2023

After the report came out a number of BBC presenters took to social media to deny they were the star in question including Rylan Clark, Jeremy Vine, Nicky Campbell and Gary Lineker.

Why hasn’t the male BBC presenter been named?

The short answer for why the presenter has yet to be named is down legal and editorial issues for news outlets across the UK. 

With the topic of The Sun’s article allegations, there is not a clear answer as to what evidence The Sun has seen or who they got the information from. 

Although journalists have the right to use public interest for cases with evidence, the case of the BBC presenter currently does not have enough clear evidence. 

Alongside the evidence side, there is also the fear that news outlets could face defamation if they were to name, accuse or write in a way that implied someone was guilty. 

The law of defamation protects a person’s reputation from the massive harm caused by lies, as stated by the Legislation government website. 

But, the defamation law does not just affect news outlets, as users of social media naming or accusing persons could also face legal action.