WARNING: SENSITIVE CONTENT – The BBC has issued an apology for how they handled the publication of details from a coroner’s court regarding the death of former Liverpool Women manager, Matt Beard
The BBC has issued an apology for the manner in which it reported on the details of Matt Beard’s death. The former Liverpool Women manager was found dead at his home last month after taking his own life.
In a story uploaded to the BBC Sport website on Monday, September 29, the publication gave details about the method of Beard’s death, based on a coroner’s hearing, in the headline and body of the story. The article was also sent out as a push notification to users of the site, which has 8.5million active accounts weekly.
In a statement, the BBC said: “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.”
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The BBC’s own editorial policy states that “references to suicide should be avoided in headlines unless editorially justified,” with the broadcaster conceding that their approach to reporting was “not appropriate.”
It comes after Coroner John Griffiths shared the details of Beard’s death at the age of 47 at a coroner’s court hearing on Monday. There he said that paramedics were called to his Deeside home in Flintshire before he was rushed to hospital, but sadly passed away at 9:15pm on Saturday, September 20.
Tributes to Beard has since flooded in across the footballing world for the former manager who had stints with Liverpool, West Ham and Chelsea. Meanwhile, a minute’s silence was observed ahead of kick-off in all WSL and WSL2 fixtures on Sunday, September 21, while Liverpool’s game with Aston Villa was called off.
Among the tributes to the coach were a few from his heartbroken son, Harry. He took to social media in one post to share photos of the pair together, writing: “Love you dad, 78-25. Always will miss you,” while another upload featured a photo of him holding his father’s hand, with the caption: “Suicide is never the answer, reach out. Call 111, or 999. Please don’t take your own life, we all miss you dad.”
Another video uploaded by harry showed footage of Beard jumping into a pool, as he penned: “Never failed to make me laugh, even when having a bad day, he always used to say, ‘I bet I can make you smile’ and he always did.”
Liverpool FC also released a statement after Beard’s passing, which read: “The thoughts of everyone at the club are with Matt’s family and friends at this devastating time. Matt was not only an extremely committed and successful manager, he was also a person of real integrity and warmth, who will always be remembered with genuine fondness by everyone he worked with at the club.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United boss Marc Skinner dubbed Beard as an “icon,” as England legend Fara Williams explained how he was “one of a kind and had the purest of souls.”
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