Another prominent BBC journalist has resigned from a commercial rival after getting tired of the public broadcaster’s push for impartiality.
Newsnight’s policy editor Lewis Goodall will join former colleagues Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel to do a daily podcast for the global media company, which owns radio stations such as LBC.
Goodall was a rising star on the BBC who was increasingly present on the corporation’s election night coverage. But instead of sticking with the BBC, he has decided to join the exodus to commercial rivals who can offer more editorial freedom and more money.
Colleagues said Goodall, who this year applied for a long-term application to become the BBC’s political editor, was frustrated by the way BBC management interpreted the director’s impulse for impartiality. General Tim Davie.
The journalist was the target of Sir Robbie Gibb, a former BBC executive who served as Downing Street communications director under Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May. In 2020, Gibb publicly asked, “Is anyone more harmful to the BBC’s reputation for impartiality than Lewis Goodall?”
Gibb was later appointed to the BBC board by the Conservative government and has helped launch a series of forthcoming unbiased reviews that will examine all aspects of BBC production to detect possible biases.
Tim Davie enforced impartiality as a basic pillar of his presentation to lead the station and has managed to partially reduce the number of critical news stories about his right-wing media journalists. But it has sometimes been difficult to interpret for staff exactly who can define impartiality on key political issues. Many BBC journalists report increased government pressure on the stories and a general chilling effect, with management guessing what objections might come from Downing Street about important stories.
Maitlis had also grown tired of being criticized by management for breaching the rules of impartiality in her Newsnight monologues and tweets, while Andrew Marr also left the BBC saying he wanted to be able to speak more freely.
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A BBC news reporter said the problem was not with the rules of impartiality but with how the government uses them to intimidate management. “Impartiality should be a liberating concept; it should mean no fear or favor. Instead, allow it to be used as a stick to destroy them,” he said.
While in the past BBC journalists could not find attractive job offers elsewhere, the boom in podcasts and talk radio has made them now viable alternative careers.
The BBC also recently introduced a requirement for its presenters to declare external revenue from hosting conferences and awards events, which may be lucrative, but has attracted scrutiny for people like Sopel and Marr. Global does not have this requirement for its employees to publicly declare their self-employed income.
Other prominent BBC journalists are considering similar offers from commercial rivals, although many remain loyal to a station that can still offer access to a much larger audience than any commercial rival.