This is a guest posting from Craig Byers of the Is the BBC Biased? website.
Further to an earlier post…
Newswatch‘s David Keighley has received a statement from Ofcom in response to his post about the appointment of Bill Emmott, the ultra-pro-EU co-creator of the biased BBC mockumentary The Great European Disaster Movie, as Chair of Ofcom’s Content Board, with responsibility for TV and Radio.
This is what that Ofcom statement says:
“Any conflicts of interest involving non-executive Board members are managed appropriately and Bill Emmott would not be involved in discussions or decisions related to the EU referendum.”
Isn’t that extraordinary?
For starters, they’ve clearly conceded David’s point that Mr Emmott’s appointment is problematic and, even more strikingly, they’ve shown themselves to have absolutely no confidence in the poor man’s capacity to behave in an impartial fashion in his new job on matters related to the EU referendum!
So, if what Ofcom are saying is true, Mr Emmott will surely have to leave the room or keep his mouth firmly shut every time matters relating to the EU referendum are raised?
Given that he’s supposed to be chairing those meetings, that isn’t exactly going to be an ideal situation for his fellow board members, is it?
Especially as Ofcom’s Content Board is likely to have quite a lot of discussions and make a lot of decisions on matters of related to the EU referendum over the coming months (or years).
Photo by UK in Italy 