Tim Davie has denied that the BBC has a bias and says he is “very proud” of the corporation, while admitting to feeling “angst” over editorial mistakes that have engulfed it during his tenure.
The outgoing director general said trust in institutions depended on audiences believing they were being listened to – and that some criticism of the corporation has been “weaponised”.
“Trust is built by people absolutely believing that someone is acting in their interest and that they listen to them,” he told The Rest Is Entertainment podcast.
“If someone is not seen to listen and act in someone’s interest, then you’ve got a problem… It might just be that you just don’t get it.
“There have been too many instances where institutions – and the BBC is definitely not exempt from this,” have a “metropolitan” lens on life.
Davie, who departs on April 2, acknowledged a series of high-profile incidents that have fuelled criticism of the broadcaster, but suggested mistakes had been “weaponised” with critics seizing on individual mistakes without acknowledging the broader context.
“We’re in an age where weaponisation is rife… We’ve made mistakes, some serious mistakes, which we regret,” he went on.
“But weaponisation is selectively taking one fact – it may be a fact… but what you’re not standing on is any effort to be proportionate.
“You’re not saying, ‘look, a thousand stories run, and one didn’t get it right’. It’s literally just selecting a fact to make a case.”
Davie appeared on the podcast, hosted by Richard Osman and Marina Hyde, as he prepares to step down after five years in his role, a period marked by rows over impartiality and editorial standards.
The corporation has faced scrutiny over its coverage of the war in Gaza, including criticism surrounding a documentary that was cancelled by the broadcaster because it prominently featured the child of a member of Hamas.
It has faced pressure following the publication of the Prescott Review into BBC editorial standards, which examined editorial processes and governance.
Davie insisted that he remained proud of the BBC’s overall record.
“Overall, I'm very proud, actually, that we're still at the races in terms of holding our ground and fighting the fight,” he said.
But he acknowledged the difficulty of maintaining impartiality in a polarised media landscape, saying he spoke with “some angst, but not anger”.
Discussing the corporation’s coverage of Gaza, he said audiences could watch the same footage and “will absolutely be convinced that it indicates [a bias one way or the other] because they're looking for cues there”.
And he also addressed the backlash faced by the BBC last summer after it aired rapper Bob Vylan chanting “death to the IDF” and delivering an anti-Zionist rant during live coverage of the Glastonbury Festival.
Davie reiterated that it had been a serious editorial mistake not to cut the feed, saying the incident was “really quite upsetting.”
“I think a lot of the BBC staff were very upset by it because it didn't stand for what we stand for, and I think it was a bad error.
“The are learnings around that in terms of making sure with high-risk live music acts, and I say with some heavy heart, because I think we're at a point where you've just got to be safe, but that was completely unacceptable,” he added.
Elsewhere, he discussed the controversy surrounding the BBC’s broadcast of the Bafta Awards ceremony, during which a racial slur shouted by John Davidson, a Tourette’s syndrome campaigner who was at the event to celebrate his biopic, I Swear.
Davie suggested the decision not to cut the feed, “wasn't unlike Glastonbury, where there was an interpretive question”.
“And as always… the devil is in the detail,” he went on.
He stressed that those responsible for the decision had been acting in good faith and are “good people trying to make the right calls,” adding that staff across the corporation felt “nothing but regret” about the incident.
Reflecting on the pressures of running the BBC, Davie said the director general’s role often required making difficult editorial calls in real time.
“You just have to get the best people in and absolutely ensure your processes are robust,” he said.
“Sometimes in the last few years, we've had moments where that hasn't worked… we are deeply sorry when that happens.”
He added that the job involved making decisions once problems had arisen.
“I'm not looking for sympathy, but the director general job is ‘okay, we have an issue with this documentary, do we pull it or not?’ It is an absolutely raw editorial choice…
“You need… someone in the role who can make those choices… and you are cleaning up in the way that is appropriate.”
Davie used the interview to defend the BBC World Service, warning that failing to properly fund the international broadcaster would be “short-sighted”.
“You're not going to do the world service without government funding,” he said, adding that it had been a mistake to shift the cost of the service onto the licence fee payer.
And he restated his case for a universal licence fee or levy rather than turning the broadcasting into a subscription service.
“If we can deliver value for every household and really work at that, then everyone contributes fairly, and I think that is a model that’s worth fighting for.”
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