BBC BIAS DIGEST 29 SEPTEMBER 2020

BBC STAFF EXPRESSING POLITICAL VIEWS ‘FACE SACK’: Anita Singh (£ Telegraph 29/9) said that Tim Davie, the BBC director general, giving evidence to the Commons digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS)committee,  had warned that BBC stars who broke planned new guidelines banning the expression of their political views would face ‘the sack or their Twitter accounts being taken away’.   Mark …

BBC BIAS DIGEST 28 SEPTEMBER 2020

BBC IMPARTIALITY ‘IS BEING CONSIDERED BY GOVERNMENT’:  Alastair  Stewart (£ Spectator 28/9), discussing press speculation that former Daily Telegraph editor Charles Moore and former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre were being considered by Downing Street for the chairmanships (respectively) of the BBC and Ofcom,  claimed that the appointments could ‘redraw the broadcasting landscape’.    Mr Stewart also noted that culture secretary …

BBC BIAS DIGEST 27 SEPTEMBER 2020

DOWNING STREET “WOOS DACRE AND MOORE’ FOR TOP MEDIA POSTS:  Glen Owen (Mail on Sunday 27/9) reported that prime minister Boris Johnson – in a bid to ‘shake up the left-wing establishment’ –  had approached the ex-editor of the Daily Mail Paul Dacre to become  chairman of Ofcom in succession to Lord Burns, who was stepping down a year early …

BBC Bias Digest 26 September 2020

ANDREW NEIL ‘LEAVES BBC’: Steven Brown (Express 26/9) reported that former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil, who had worked subsequently for almost 25 years as a presenter of BBC political programmes, had confirmed in a tweet that ‘with heavy heart’, he was leaving the corporation.   Mr Brown added that Mr Neil had also revealed he had been appointed editorial board …

BBC BIAS DIGEST 25 SEPTEMBER 2020

ANDREA JENKYNS: “BBC FOMENTS DIVISION”:  The Morley and Outwood Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns (£ Telegraph 24/9), in a comment item,  argued that, because the BBC was breaching its Charter by ‘fomenting division through questionable and blatant political positions’ in its programmes,  defunding the Corporation  ‘cannot come soon enough’. She wrote: ‘Not only is the BBC teetering on the precipice of …

BBC BIAS DIGEST 17 SEPTEMBER 2020

LINEKER ‘RACE-BAITS’ OVER SPORT QUIZ:  Rebecca Davison (Mail online 17/9)said BBC football presenter Gary Lineker had caused a furore when he had tweeted that Alex Scott, a former England women’s  team footballer, had been confirmed as Sue Barker4’s replacement as host of the BBC1 quiz A Question of Sport.   He had said: ‘Congratulations and good luck to @AlexScott on being …

BBC BIAS DIGEST 16 SEPTEMBER 2020

BBC ANNUAL REPORT REVEALS FALL IN AUDIENCES AND REVENUE:  Daniel Martin (Mail 16/9), said that figures in the BBC’s annual report showed that the number of people paying the BBC licence fee had fallen by 237,000 to 25.9 million  over the previous year, with overall licence fee revenue – which was also hit by a fall in government contributions towards …

BBC BIAS DIGEST 15 SEPTEMBER 2020

BBC SENIOR MANAGEMENT ‘FACES CULL’:  Anita Singh (£ Telegraph 15/9) said that in revealing the contents of the BBC annual report (on 15/9), new director general Tim Davie would – according to a ‘source’ – say that he was planning to remove unnecessary layers of bureaucracy, including a cull of its 100 most senior executives earning more than £150,000 a …

BBC Bias Digest – 14 September 2020

CONSERVATIVE MP: ‘BBC SHOULD BE DEFUNDED’: Simon Osborne  (Express 14/9) said the Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns had called for the BBC licence fee to be scrapped,  and had urged prime minister Boris Johnson to use his Commons majority to push through major reforms of the corporation. He added that Ms Jenkyns had claimed viewers were fed up of paying the annual …

BBC BIAS DIGEST 13 SEPTEMBER 2020

  BBC ‘PUT WOKE TO BED’: Faith Ridler (Mail on Sunday 13/9) reported that Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia had been sung last night at the last night of the proms following the ‘furious backlash’ over the lyrics being pulled due to ‘imperialistic ties’. She added the performance had been by a reduced orchestra of 65, against …