Another prominent BBC journalist has resigned over a trade rival after he grew tired of the public operator’s quest for impartiality.
Lewis Goodall, political editor of Newsnight, will join former colleagues Emily Maitlis and John Sopel in making a daily podcast for the media company Global, which owns radio stations, including LBC.
Goodall was a rising star on the BBC, who became increasingly involved in covering the corporation’s election night. But instead of sticking to the BBC, he instead decided to join the move to trade rivals who could offer more editorial freedom – and more money.
Colleagues said Goodall, who has made a long-term candidacy for political editor of the BBC this year, is disappointed with the way the BBC’s management has interpreted CEO Tim Davy’s drive for impartiality.
The journalist was targeted by Sir Robbie Gibb, a former BBC chief executive who was Downing Street’s communications director under Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May. In 2020, Gibb publicly asked, “Is there anyone more detrimental to the BBC’s reputation for impartiality than Louis Goodall?”
Gibb was subsequently appointed to the BBC by the Tory government and helped launch a series of forthcoming impartiality reviews that will address every aspect of the BBC’s production of potential bias.
Tim Davy has made imposing impartiality a key element of his idea to run the TV station and has partially reduced the number of critical news stories about his right-wing journalists. But who exactly can define impartiality on leading political issues is sometimes difficult to interpret by officials. Many BBC reporters reported increased government pressure on the stories and a general chilling effect, with management wondering what objections could come from Downing Street on important stories.
Maitlis was also tired of being referred by the management for impartiality violations in her monologues and tweets on Newsnight, while Andrew Marr also left the BBC, saying she wanted to be able to speak more freely.
Sign up for the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7am BST.
A BBC journalist said the problem was not the rules of impartiality, but how the government used them to harass the leadership. “Impartiality must be a liberating concept – it must mean without fear or favor. Instead, they 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 meant they now had viable alternative careers.
The BBC has also recently introduced a requirement for its presenters to declare external profits from holding conferences and awards events, which can be lucrative – but has attracted the attention of people like Sopel and Mar. Global has no such requirement to require its employees to publicly declare their freelance income.
Other prominent BBC journalists are considering similar offers from commercial rivals, although many remain loyal to a broadcaster that can still offer access to a huge audience far larger than any commercial rival.
Add Comment