BBC to expand standards panel and add deputy director general after bias row | BBC
The BBC is planning to overhaul the way it investigates editorial concerns in a move that will reduce the influence of a Conservative figure accused of trying to influence its political impartiality.
A new deputy chief executive post is also expected to be created to assist Tim Davie’s succession as chief executive, following concerns that the task of overseeing the company has become too large for a single person.
The measures come as the BBC responds to the crisis that led to the sudden resignations of Davie and BBC News chief Deborah Turness.
They left after bitter discussions at board level over allegations of liberal bias raised in a memo by Michael Prescott, the former independent external adviser to the BBC’s broadcasting codes and standards committee (EGSC). Prescott left that role in the summer.
Key figures in the line-up, including Prescott, influential Conservative-appointed board member Robbie Gibb and chairman Samir Shah, will appear before MPs on Monday as the culture, media and sport committee reviews the memo and examines a crippling disagreement over how to respond to it.
Pressure on Shah and Gibb increased ahead of Monday’s session with the resignation of board member Shumeet Banerji on Friday. Banerji said in a letter that she resigned due to “management issues” and that she was not consulted about the events leading to the departure of Davie and Turness.
In Precott’s memo, leaked to the Daily Telegraph, he accused the BBC of bias on issues such as Donald Trump, Gaza and trans rights. Although the BBC apologized for the Panorama edit of Trump’s speech, it rejected Prescott’s other claims. Prescott’s note was a partial and personal account, Shah said.
The fallout from Davie’s resignation has also focused attention on the role of Gibb, a self-described “quintessential Thatcherite Conservative” who was Theresa May’s communications chief at Downing Street.
Gibb was placed on the BBC board by Boris Johnson and given a new term by the last Conservative government. MPs and the broadcaster’s staff have called for him to be removed from the BBC’s board following internal allegations that he has faced persistent criticism from the political right about his broadcasts. Gibb also had a role in Prescott’s appointment as an advisor to EGSC.
Gibb is a member of the EGSC, giving him a significant say in discussions about the BBC’s potential bias. The Guardian understands the BBC is currently planning a major overhaul of the EGSC. Plans are to expand its membership to ensure no single voice dominates the forum.
At the last two announced meetings of the EGSC, Gibb was one of four full members of the committee. The other three (Davie, Turness and Shah) were attending in addition to their jobs running the organisation.
Anna Sabine, the Liberal Democrats’ spokesperson for culture, media and sport, said: “The crisis at the BBC, currently being exploited by the likes of Trump and Farage, stems directly from years of Tory favoritism.
“Gibb is the last person we would trust to take on such a prominent role on the editorial guidelines and standards committee. The Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to defend impartial broadcasting, sack Robbie Gibb and end the practice of all political appointments to the BBC board.”
Gibb’s allies pointed out that he was a persistent defender of the BBC and supported the license fee. They state that Gibb and others acted out of genuine concern about the BBC’s reporting. The BBC said Gibb was just one voice on the panel of more than a dozen people and was one of the four-person panel that appointed Prescott to an advisory role.
Prescott, who has not commented publicly so far, said his views “do not come with any political agenda.” Shah rejected claims that a right-wing internal campaign to influence the BBC’s reporting was delusional.
Shah, meanwhile, is understood to have concluded that the challenges of running the BBC are now so great that Tim Davie’s replacement needs a deputy. While Davie was editor-in-chief, he had no significant editorial experience.
Prescott’s most damaging criticism concerned the way the Panorama program edited the Trump speech. The US president has since threatened to sue. Shah apologized, saying it was an “error of judgement”, but the BBC denies Trump’s claim that the program slandered him.
Bectu, the BBC’s largest union, is among those calling for Gibb to be removed from the BBC board. He said staff lacked confidence in the company’s leadership and that “a key position on the board was filled by someone perceived by many staff and external commentators to be sympathetic to, or actively involved in, a campaign to undermine the BBC and influence its political neutrality”.
