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The chair of the culture select committee has raised doubts about whether the BBC’s board is secure under the leadership of its current chair, Samir Shah. She described his testimony before MPs on Monday as lacking clarity. Shah appeared before the Commons committee following a tumultuous time for the BBC, marked by the resignation of both its director general and head of news amid accusations regarding impartiality in its reporting.
Dame Caroline Dinenage, the senior MP on the committee, voiced her concerns in an interview with the BBC’s World Tonight after the session, emphasizing a perceived lack of strong control within the BBC’s governance structure. Despite Shah’s remarks that he would not abandon his role and was committed to “steadying the ship” and solving the issues at hand, doubts remain among committee members about the board’s ability to manage the unfolding crisis effectively.
Shah, along with other senior BBC officials, was called to give evidence regarding how the corporation plans to address the controversy surrounding its news impartiality. This dispute originated from a leaked memo by a former independent adviser on editorial standards, which criticized the editing of a speech by Donald Trump in the Panorama program. The aftermath of the memo saw two top leaders resign, threats of legal action from the US president, and increased pressure from UK politicians on the broadcaster. Conservative MP Dame Caroline expressed frustration over Shah’s lack of concrete answers on how the BBC intends to act more swiftly and decisively, stating, “He didn’t really have direct answers on the questions of how to get the BBC to act quicker, act more decisively… we were really looking for hard evidence that the BBC board are going to grip this… I’m not entirely convinced that they can and they will.”
During the committee hearing, Shah noted that the search for a new director general had commenced and suggested introducing a deputy role due to what he described as the job being “too big for one person.” He acknowledged the BBC’s slow response to the controversy regarding the editing of Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech. The original speech contained Trump saying, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women,” followed over 50 minutes later by, “And we fight. We fight like hell.” However, the Panorama edit combined these segments, making it appear as if Trump said, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.” The BBC apologized after scrutiny intensified due to the leaked memo and criticism from the White House, admitting that the edit mistakenly suggested Trump was calling for violent action. Shah explained that internal disagreements delayed the release of the apology, saying, “It took time to get it right, what the actual apology was for.”
While the BBC has admitted error in the editing and apologized, it strongly dismissed Trump’s claims that he has grounds to sue for defamation and refused to offer financial compensation demanded by his legal team. The memo that sparked the dispute was authored by Michael Prescott, a former external editorial adviser, who pointed to “systemic” issues spanning various topics such as perceived bias in BBC Arabic’s coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict and reporting on transgender issues. Prescott testified that these problems appeared to be worsening and that the BBC board was not taking them seriously enough, though he stopped short of labeling the organization as institutionally biased. Other senior figures presenting evidence included Sir Robbie Gibb, a board member who denied orchestrating a politically motivated coup against senior BBC executives; Caroline Thomson, who acknowledged that BBC News had initially defended the Trump edit as justified but not sufficiently transparent; and Caroline Daniel, a former external adviser, who described the leaked memo as a personal perspective, noting that “robust debate” has occurred within the BBC.
In a staff email on Monday, Shah underscored that appointing a new director general to replace Tim Davie would be his top priority. He also revealed ongoing efforts to determine whether actions taken in response to the leaked memo were adequate or if further steps are needed. Additionally, Shah announced plans to review how the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee functions to ensure it is properly empowered, inclusive of diverse viewpoints, and held accountable. Both Tim Davie and Deborah Turness—the head of news who left shortly after Davie—have rejected claims of systemic bias within the BBC’s reporting
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