Rupert Murdoch has accused James Harding, a former editor of the Times who became the BBC news chief, of “going native” after Harding poured scorn on allegations that the corporation’s coverage had a leftwing bias.
The media mogul, whose assets include the Times, took a swipe at his former employee after Harding said politicians “from all parties” threatened the BBC’s future funding over its election coverage.
Harding said he was “quite astonished by the ferocity and frequency of complaints from all parties” over the way the BBC covered the election, an experience he likened to “hell on wheels”.
Speaking at a Voice of the Listener and Viewer conference in London on Tuesday, Harding said criticism of the BBC’s newsrooms was “unfair and unfounded”, including the “fabled leftwing bias” which he said he found “increasingly hard to take seriously in the light of the Conservative victory”.
“What’s the argument? That the BBC’s subtle, sophisticated leftwing message was so very subtle, so very sophisticated that it simply passed the British people by?”
Murdoch tweeted: “‘No bias’ says James Harding! Apparently he does not read his own webpages. Otherwise called ‘going native’.”
"No bias" says James Harding! Apparently he does not read his own webpages. Otherwise called "going native".
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) June 2, 2015
Harding was the youngest ever editor of the Times when appointed in 2007 at the age of 38.
However, he was forced to quit unceremoniously in December 2012 after Murdoch made it clear he wanted him to go.
Six months later, Harding became the BBC’s director of news and current affairs, taking responsibility for daily bulletins on the BBC’s main TV channels and radio stations as well as flagship programmes including Today, Newsnight, Question Time and Panorama.
