Broadcaster expected to use Freedom of Information Act to stop full disclosure, tribunal told
The BBC is expected to redact some of the almost 3,000 emails it must release about its handling of the Martin Bashir scandal, a tribunal has heard.
A judge told the broadcaster to hand over the material earlier this month, two-and-a-half years after the journalist Andrew Webb used freedom of information (FoI) laws to ask to see it.
Continue reading...Journalist defends 1995 Panorama special saying he and Diana stayed friends after the broadcast
Martin Bashir has said he “never wanted to harm” Diana, Princess of Wales with the Panorama interview, adding: “I don’t believe we did.”
The journalist’s reputation is in tatters following Lord Dyson’s report that he used “deceitful behaviour” to land his world exclusive 1995 interview.
Continue reading...Special programme investigates if the broadcaster ignored the way controversial reporter landed scoop
It was one of the most controversial and shattering TV programmes the BBC has ever broadcast. And early next month, the corporation is to return – in a Panorama special – to its 1995 interview with Princess Diana by the then little-known Martin Bashir.
Related: How did the Martin Bashir I knew become TV’s anti-hero?
Continue reading...Charles Spencer says BBC used ‘sheer dishonesty’ to secure interview with princess
Princess Diana’s brother has accused the BBC of a “whitewash” over faked bank statements that allegedly helped to secure a historic Panorama interview with his sister, and called on the corporation to carry out a formal inquiry.
Charles Spencer said the BBC had used “sheer dishonesty” to win the trust of Diana, Princess of Wales, for the interview with Martin Bashir.
Continue reading...Director general admits mistake following 18,000 complaints
The BBC’s director general, Tony Hall, has apologised after the N-word was used in a TV news broadcast, following mass complaints and the resignation of one of the corporation’s radio DJs.
“Every organisation should be able to acknowledge when it has made a mistake. We made one here,” Hall said in an email to all BBC staff.
Continue reading...After a shocking week for the broadcaster, what are the issues it must tackle to keep its place in the nation’s cultural landscape?
In his eye-catching pitch for his new job as chair of the powerful parliamentary group that monitors the BBC, Julian Knight, MP for Solihull, promised, among other things, to run the culture, media and sport select committee, as an “unofficial ‘Royal Commission’ on the future of the corporation”.
Last Thursday, a victorious Knight swiftly underlined his plan to “ask difficult questions about the BBC’s future funding model”. He also applauded a suggestion from fellow MP James Cartlidge that a more commercial BBC could become “a top export service”. These words sent a renewed January chill down the corridors of New Broadcasting House.
Continue reading...Corporation director general Tony Hall emails staff to say he is overturning ruling over impartiality guidelines
The BBC has reversed its decision to discipline Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty for breaking impartiality guidelines with her comments about the US president following enormous internal and external anger about the ruling.
The U-turn came after the Guardian published leaked internal correspondence casting doubts on the public claims made by senior BBC executives about the nature of the single viewer complaint that led to the ruling.
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