BBC director-general Tim Davie has said he can "lead" the corporation in the "right way" following a series of reputational scandals faced by the organisation. The BBC chief's defiant stance comes as the corporation faces mounting criticism over editorial failings and misconduct allegations.
The BBC has been criticised for a number of failings in recent months which include breaching its own accuracy editorial guidelines, livestreaming the controversial Bob Vylan Glastonbury set, and recent misconduct allegations surrounding the former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace. The corporation's annual report showed that Davie, who has been in the role since 2020, has had a 3.8% pay rise with his salary going up £20,000 from £527,000 last year to £547,000.
Davie rejects resignation calls
Davie was asked during the release of the corporation's 2024/2025 annual report on Tuesday whether he would resign. He said: "I simply think I'm in a place where I can work to improve dramatically the BBC and lead it in the right way."
The director-general acknowledged that mistakes would happen but defended his leadership team's approach. "We will make mistakes, but I think as a leadership and myself, I've been very clear, and I think we have been decisive," he said.
Gaza coverage challenges
Davie described Gaza as "the most challenging editorial issue" he has had to deal with during his tenure. He emphasised the importance of public service broadcasting in the current climate, stating: "There has never been a more important time for public service broadcasting."
He added: "There's enormous, massive noise and different opinions about what we should do, but I think we have been clear. We are making the right decisions. We're being transparent on what we do, and I think that's what counts." Davie also claimed that under his leadership, the BBC had set "a very clear stall out in terms of impartiality".
Editorial guidelines breach
The comments come after a review conducted by Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and reviews, found the BBC documentary Gaza: Surviving a Warzone breached editorial guidelines on accuracy for failing to disclose details of the narrator's father. The report did not find any other breaches of editorial guidelines, including breaches of impartiality, and also found no evidence that "outside interests" "inappropriately impacted on the programme".
Since the report was published, broadcasting regulator Ofcom announced it would investigate the documentary under its own broadcasting code, which states that factual programmes "must not materially mislead the audience". The development adds another layer of scrutiny to the BBC's handling of the controversial documentary.
Board backs director-general
Dr Samir Shah, BBC chair, offered his full support for Davie's leadership during the challenging period. "I want to be absolutely clear that I and the board support Tim Davie's leadership fully," Shah said.
Shah praised Davie's handling of various crises, describing his approach as showing "very confident and decisive leadership in a very, very challenging environment, right from the start". He added: "The number of issues of vision from people behaving badly to News in some cases, when it's appropriate, decisively and shouldn't do it all, in other cases, We are the BBC, and we will do this properly. We do it fairly, we do it correctly, and we will then take action."
(PA/London) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
