The latest scandal to hit the BBC could not have come at a worse time. This morning, director-general Tim Davie launches the corporation’s annual report. But instead of boasting about bringing spending down and pushing audience figures up, he will face journalists armed with questions about potentially the most damaging scandal to hit the BBC since the Jimmy Savile revelations.
The story is still developing but the basic facts are well known: an unnamed presenter has been suspended after being accused of paying a teenager tens of thousands of pounds for sexually explicit images. The teenager in question has since issued a statement through his lawyer saying nothing inappropriate or unlawful happened, though his parents stand by their allegations.
The police are involved and the case may yet end up in court, but aside from the personal tragedies involved in the sorry saga it also raises issues about the BBC — how it deals with its star talent, its own future and that of the director-general. One problem Davie faces is the nature of the story with the media not naming the broadcaster due to confusion over current privacy laws. That has fuelled speculation about the presenter’s identity, with other BBC stars threatening libel action after being incorrectly named, and continually breathing new life into the story.
The last DG to face such a storm, George Entwistle, only lasted 54 days before falling on his sword after Newsnight falsely implicated Lord McAlpine in the child abuse scandal. His end came as the BBC struggled with the fallout from the Savile scandal when the ex-BBC personality was unmasked as one of the country’s most prolific sex offenders. While there is no indication this is on a similar scale, Davie will be looking nervously over his shoulder.
A lot depends on what he knew and when. The BBC has said it’s been investigating a “complaint” since May and that allegations of a “different nature” were only brought to it on Thursday. Davie will have to give answers on what he was told and when, and what say he had in allowing the presenter to stay on air until he was finally suspended last week. It may be that he can plead ignorance — there has been some suggestion he knew nothing about the case until last Thursday — but that would reveal deep flaws in the organisation he leads.
One now retired TV producer, who worked at the BBC as well as rival broadcasters, compared the corporation to “a machine that does not work”. He said: “The BBC is good at resisting change and resisting decisions it does not like. Very few people in the BBC are empowered to make decisions and it is clear the systems do not work. A complaint was made about a well-known presenter that should get escalated because potentially you have a huge problem but it does not seem to have been done.”
But the industry veteran said he expected Davie to stay in post and “come up with a credible process” to deal with the issue. The DG has also been backed by the Prime Minister, whose spokesman said Rishi Sunak retained “confidence” in him. But not everyone feels the same.
Davie has already burnt through a considerable amount of goodwill this year after his attempt to stamp authority on Gary Lineker ended up with the sort of self-inflicted wound the BBC seems to specialise in. His decision to suspend the presenter over a tweet criticising government asylum policy triggered a sympathy strike by Lineker’s colleagues who walked out, forcing the BBC to axe most of its football coverage and become a laughing stock in the process. Questions will be asked if it appears Davie hesitated to act in this case after being seen as acting rashly in the Lineker row.
But some of those who know the DG well do not expect him to give in easily and say he will use this as an opportunity to move further and faster with reforms of what is still too often a malfunctioning organisation. One way out could be to pick up an idea floated by industry insiders. Philippa Childs, who heads the broadcasting union Bectu, has long called for an “independent standards authority” that people can report inappropriate behaviour to. She said: “We believe that recent events show the need is clear and urgent and long overdue.”
It is a move that would allow Davie to show real change is being made and play to his greatest strength, which is that while he holds sway over the corporation, he is not a BBC lifer. Davie is clearly committed to the corporation (you don’t leave a well-paid career for a BBC job if you are not) but he also has experience in the business world and a sense of how it is seen from outside.
If the BBC is to ride out this latest storm successfully it will be because of the director-general, not despite him.
