How ‘civil war’ inside BBC risks derailing hunt for new director general ...Middle East

A “civil war” inside the BBC could deter candidates from coming to the rescue of an organisation in turmoil after the director-general’s shock resignation, insiders said.

Jay Hunt, the Apple TV executive behind Slow Horses, the Wall Street Journal’s editor-in-chief Emma Tucker and former Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon are among the names tipped to replace Tim Davie in the UK media’s most high-pressure role.

However, the continued presence on the BBC board of Sir Robbie Gibb, the former Tory communications chief, said to have “led the charge” over claims that executives had failed to deal with claims of bias, could put off serious contenders, The i Paper was told.

A company-wide Q&A session between the outgoing director-general Tim Davie and his staff on Tuesday morning illustrated the depth of disillusionment among staffers still reeling from the resignations of Davie and his News CEO Deborah Turness.

Davie delivered a punchy call for staff to “fight for our journalism” the day after Trump threatened the BBC with a $1bn (£760m) lawsuit over the controversial editing of his speech in an episode of Panorama. But insiders reported a mood of “frustration” at the event.

“Tim didn’t answer any questions about what happened with Panorama and why the board didn’t resolve this by issuing an apology earlier,” one attendee said.

BBC Chairman Samir Shah, who also spoke at the event, is facing mounting criticism for not getting a grip on the crisis at an earlier stage. “Samir said it was ‘disrespectful’ to suggest that the Board had failed to uphold the BBC’s values,” the person said.

“His media appearances do not inspire confidence,” said another. “He looked shaky.”

MPs have called Gibb and Shah to attend a grilling about the crisis. They will appear before the Commons Media Select Committee to discuss the BBC Editorial Standards Committee’s “processes and how it ensures output complies with the BBC’s editorial guidelines.” The hearing will take place in the next fortnight.

Restoring public trust in the BBC’s commitment to “impartiality” in the News department, now under the leadership of Jonathan Munro, is top of a bulging in-tray for the next director-general.

Some senior news figures believe that Davie and Turness’s downfall was the result of a “coup”, engineered by conservative forces hostile to the BBC, backed by politically-motivated members of the board, seizing on the leak of a memo to The Telegraph claiming widespread BBC bias.

Insiders had pointed to Sir Ronnie Gibb, a former BBC editor who left to become Downing Street director of communications for Theresa May and who is now a member of the Board.

Appointed by Boris Johnson, Gibb is said to be frustrated that news executives have not tackled what he considers to be impartiality failures. He is also said to be friends with Michael Prescott, a former Times journalist who left a BBC advisory role in “despair” that action had not been taken over the issues he cited in a 19-page memo.

This theory was advanced in a leader column in The Observer, run by James Harding, a former BBC Director of News, previously considered a candidate to be Davie’s successor. Harding’s paper asserted that the BBC bosses had indeed been ousted in a “coup”, “led by the politically appointed members of the board.”

One BBC figure said: “James is a strong BBC defender and has the journalistic credentials to clean up this mess as director-general. James and others with strong news backgrounds couldn’t do the job if he had to report to Gibb.”

Another insider said: “Why would anyone take the job in the middle of a civil war. If Robbie left too there would be a clean break and a reset for the new director-general.”

Gibb declined to comment. But a friend said: “The allegation that there was a conspiracy is absolute nonsense.” Gibb supported Tim Davie and wanted him to stay, the person added.

The BBC board is also under pressure to appoint the first female director-general in the corporation’s history and there are a number of highly-qualified executives who fit the bill. Though the £540,000 a-year role would mean a pay cut for some.

The WSJ’s Emma Tucker has impressed many for standing by her paper’s reporting in the face of a $10bn (£7.6bn) lawsuit threat from Trump over its coverage of his links to Jeffrey Epstein.

The British editor may have unfinished business in New York but WSJ-owner Rupert Murdoch may like the idea of “loaning” an editor infused with the company’s values to the BBC.

The next director-general will arrive at a time of peril. Aside from the threat of a $1bn Trump lawsuit, ministers are poised to publish a Green Paper into the BBC’s future, which will include radical options to reform or replace the licence fee, including a move to a Netflix-style subscription.

Jay Hunt, Apple’s creative director of worldwide video, is the candidate best-placed to tackle the BBC’s greatest existential threat – how to compete with US streaming giants whose budgets dwarf the BBC’s £5bn, at a time of waning support for the licence fee – 300,000 viewers cancelled their £174.50 payments last year alone.

“Jay has run BBC One and Channel 4 where she poached Bake Off from the Beeb,” said an industry observer. “She took a risk on Slow Horses for Apple after the BBC turned it down. She is an inspirational leader and what the BBC needs.”

Dame Carolyn McCall, ITV chief executive, who previously ran EasyJet and Alex Mahon, the Channel 4 chief executive who quit earlier this year for a job in the live music business, can also expect a call from the headhunters.

Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s chief content officer until February, when she became chief executive of Left Bank Films, will also be a contender. Moore oversaw BBC entertainment hits including The Traitors, though former colleagues say she was less comfortable dealing with the editorial crises the organisation regularly faces.

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Some feel the job of director-general is now too big for one person to accomplish successfully and should be split. “There should be one leader in charge of programming and strategy and an editor-in-chief, or deputy director-general, responsible for news, where most problems come from,” said one BBC staffer. “Davie suffered because he came from marketing and did not have a journalistic background.”

Friends of Davie say he expects to leave in the New Year. However, it could take up to nine months for a new director-general to be installed if they are poached from a rival organisation.

The BBC is expected to place an advert for the role over the next few weeks and hire headhunters to sift candidates. The appointment is made by the BBC Chairman and Board, with government ministers having no involvement.

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