Sideman, the ‘n-word’ and surviving Tim Westwood.

Choosing which hill to die on.

Comedian and radio presenter David Whitely, aka Sideman, resigned from his role as a presenter on BBC 1-Xtra last weekend, over the BBC’s use of the ‘n-word’ during a news broadcast.

For those that don’t know the context, the BBC report, which aired on 29 July, described an attack on a 21-year-old NHS worker and musician known as K-Dogg. He had been hit by a car while walking to the bus stop from his workplace and suffered serious injuries including a broken leg, nose and cheekbone.

In defence of the BBC’s reporting, the young man’s parents reportedly wanted the use of the word to be reported, to show that this was a racially motivated attack and not just some random hit and run.

The victim’s family were anxious the incident should be seen and understood by the wider public

The attack was harrowing and disturbing and shows that random racist attacks are still occurring, so many years after the murder of Stephen Lawrence. But It seems strange to me that so many people got upset, not so much about the attack, but rather the use of the n-word when reporting it.

The BBC received more than 18,600 complaints and 384 were made to Ofcom.