Claims of “serious and systemic problems” in the corporation’s coverage of issues including Donald Trump, Gaza and trans issues, which led to the resignation of its director general, Tim Davie, have been disputed by a former adviser to the corporation.
Deborah Turness, the head of BBC News, also resigned after the allegations by Michael Prescott, a PR executive and former independent external adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC).
Prescott’s memo, sent to the BBC’s board and eventually leaked to the Daily Telegraph, contained a series of claims of bias in relation to issues including Trump and racial diversity.
He claimed the corporation’s leaders had ignored his concerns or not properly followed through on mistakes.
However, speaking to the Commons culture, media and sport committee, an adviser who served alongside Prescott as an external EGSC adviser said Prescott’s view did not provide the full picture and was his “personal account”.
Caroline Daniel, a PR executive and former journalist said she believed the BBC “took issues of impartiality extremely seriously” throughout the period cited by Prescott.
“It was a healthy debate and also a very robust debate,” she said. “But in my view, was the BBC willing to have a proper conversation, debate and actually take action? In my view, yes.”
Also appearing before MPs, Prescott said he did not believe the BBC was “institutionally biased”, but said he believed the BBC repeatedly failed to properly follow up issues raised at the EGSC.
However, Daniel disagreed. “The real issue is the culture of the BBC in terms of the level of attention paid to these issues,” she said.
“In my view, the fact that we had a robust committee to debate issues of impartiality … was actually really significant. I think there are few organisations when you actually have that level of auditing internally on a regular basis.”
She also disputed the account of the BBC’s US election coverage portrayed in Prescott’s memo. “Michael’s account is a personal account rather than a comprehensive review of everything that was covered in the committee,” she said.
Prescott said his memo was a “reasonable edit” of concerns raised, but conceded it was “unbalanced” because it did not include examples of where an internal review had praised the coverage.
Claims of political pressure over the memo from within the BBC have focused attention on Robbie Gibb, the board member who was Theresa May’s communications chief in Downing Street.
Appearing before the committee, Gibb said he had no intention of resigning, despite BBC staff and some MPs calling for him to leave the corporation because of his political links. He said Prescott’s memo had “been weaponised and I have been a victim of that weaponisation”.
Gibb ridiculed the idea of “a coup” from the right. “It is up there as one of the most ridiculous charges,” he said. “It’s complete nonsense. It’s also deeply offensive to fellow board members.
“Everyone who knows me knows that I’m hugely impartial,” he said. “I have friends across the political divide. I have impartiality through my bones.” He said he did not think the BBC was institutionally biassed.
Prescott confirmed he was friends with Gibb and that Gibb had had a role in his appointment, but added that the BBC’s HR department was also involved. He said his memo was all his own work, though based on research by the EGSC’s adviser, the longtime BBC journalist David Grossman.
Prescott insisted he had no political bias, as MPs suggested all his criticisms appeared to come from the right. He said he was a “centrist dad” and that he was “no soul mate” of Gibb.
Samir Shah, the BBC’s chair, also came under pressure for his own role in the crisis, with accusations that delays in the BBC’s response left the corporation open to attack.
He said he had wanted to make sure the board was united and that they were right in understanding the issues. Shah defended Gibb, saying he was interested in accuracy and impartiality. He also said he tried to stop Davie resigning.
The most serious issue to emerge from Prescott’s memo was an accusation that the BBC had selectively edited a Donald Trump speech to make it appear clearer that he encouraged the US Capitol attack.
Prescott said that President Trump was “probably not” defamed by the Panorama edit, over which the president is threatening to sue.
Shah and Caroline Thomson, another BBC board member appearing before MPs, said Turness and BBC News wanted to apologise for the edit. However, they said they were among the board members who wanted BBC News to go further in stating the show was misleading about Trump’s role in the Capitol riots.
Shah also rejected allegations from a fellow board member, who has since resigned, that he did not properly consult all board members in the run up to the resignations of Davie and Turness. Shah said he called tech investor Shumeet Banerji on the weekend of the resignations to discuss the situation.
Thomson said Shah had “the unanimous support” of the current board.
Shah confirmed the Guardian’s report that the BBC wants its new director general to have a deputy responsible for its journalism, to make it a more manageable job.
The BBC also confirmed it was reviewing how the EGSC works and its composition. Some BBC insiders believe Gibb had too much power on the body, which recently had only four members.
