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Tag: Mark Thompson

  • Illegal Terrorist organisation PKK supporter BBC, now also supports BNP

    Illegal Terrorist organisation PKK supporter BBC, now also supports BNP

    BBC is right to allow BNP on Question Time, says Mark Thompson

    A7Censorship is decision for ministers not broadcasters, insists corporation chief

    The BBC‘s director general, Mark Thompson, today robustly defends the corporation’s decision to invite the BNP leader, Nick Griffin, on to Question Time, and challenges the government to change the law if it wants to censor the far-right group.

    Writing in the Guardian, Thompson says ministers would have to impose a broadcasting ban on the party – as Margaret Thatcher did with Sinn Féin in the 1980s – before the BBC would consider breaching its “central principle of impartiality”.

    Griffin was not asked on to the flagship current affairs show out of “some misguided desire to be controversial”, he says, but because it is the public’s right “to hear the full range of political perspectives”.

    He adds: “It is a straightforward matter of fact that … the BNP has demonstrated a level of support which would normally lead to an occasional invitation to join the panel on Question Time. It is for that reason alone … that the invitation has been extended.”

    In what appears a direct challenge to the cabinet – including the Wales secretary, Peter Hain, who has argued vociferously for Griffin’s invitation to be rescinded – Thompson says: “The case against inviting the BNP to appear on Question Time is a case for censorship … Democratic societies sometimes do decide that some parties and organisations are beyond the pale. As a result they proscribe them and/or ban them from the airwaves.”

    Referring to the ban on Sinn Féin in the 1980s, he says the BBC opposed the move by the Thatcher government, but abided by it. The corporation would similarly abide by a decision to proscribe the BNP.

    “My point is simply that the drastic steps of proscription and censorship can only be taken by government and parliament … It is unreasonable and inconsistent to take the position that a party like the BNP is acceptable enough for the public to vote for, but not acceptable enough to appear on democratic platforms like Question Time. If there is a case for censorship, it should be debated and decided in parliament. Political censorship cannot be outsourced to the BBC or anyone else.”

    Thompson says the BNP will be challenged tenaciously on the programme.

    Hain described Thompson’s position as “plain wrong”. He said: “He is dodging the fact the BNP is a racist, fascist party in complete contradiction to the BBC’s own equal opportunities and anti-racist policies. The BBC are in total denial about their gifting of a massive early Christmas present to the BNP. This is probably the worst decision the BBC has made in recent times.”

    Following an emergency meeting last night, the BBC Trust rejected appeals against Griffin’s invitation to appear on the programme, saying it was “a question of editorial judgment”.

    Griffin, who is an MEP, arrived in London from Strasbourg and will begin preparations for the show at a secret location this morning before travelling to Television Centre by car in time for the planned 6pm recording. The BNP is so concerned about its leader’s security that it explored chartering a private helicopter to get him to the studio, but was told by the BBC there was nowhere for it to land. Anti-fascist protesters are planning a rally outside Television Centre with members of the broadcasting union Bectu.

    Griffin told the Guardian he admired Thompson’s “personal courage” by inviting him. He described one of his fellow panellists, the Conservative peer Lady Warsi, as “a token Asian Muslim woman” and, in a message to supporters, said the debate was his chance to “take on the corrupt, treacherous swine destroying our beautiful island nation”.

    He predicted it would be “political bloodsport” when he faces Warsi, Jack Straw, the justice secretary, Chris Huhne, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, and Bonnie Greer, a black American playwright and critic who lives in Britain.

    Ben Bradshaw, the culture secretary, said: “I have always thought we have to take the BNP on. I have always thought they condemn themselves as soon as they open their mouths. In a democracy where they have elected representatives not just at European level but at local level it is very difficult for a broadcaster to exclude them … We should not give these people the opportunity to claim they are being gagged.”

    BBC
  • BBC’s Mark Thompson claimed £2,000 to fly family home during Sachsgate

    BBC’s Mark Thompson claimed £2,000 to fly family home during Sachsgate

    Mark Thompson, the BBC Director-General, used more than £2,000 of licence fee-payers’ money to fly his family home from holiday after the Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand row.

    thompson

    He cut short his family holiday to return to the UK as public anger grew over the lewd messages left by Brand and Ross on the answering machine of Andrew Sachs, the Fawlty Towers actor.

    The cost of flying his family home – £2,236.90 to be exact – was met by the BBC with the approval of the chairman of the corporation’s audit committee.

    Expenses claims made by the corporation’s board were published on Thursday in what Mr Thompson, who earns £ 816,000 a year, described as a “significant advance in openness at the BBC”, although full details of top stars’ salaries are to remain confidential.

    Notes on the claim for flying Mr Thompson’s family home read: “The chairman of the audit committee of the executive board agreed that the expense of cutting a family holiday short would be met by the BBC in advance of the claim being made.

    “The chairman of the BBC Trust was also informed.”

    On the same day as his family’s flight back to the UK, October 30 last year, Mr Thompson also claimed £500 for hotel rooms in the towns of Siracusa and Ragusa in Sicily, where he is believed to have been spending his holiday, and a further £206 for what is described in the accompanying notes as “holiday cut short”.

    In 2004 Mr Thompson put the £1,277.71 cost of chartering a private plane on expenses, again because he had to curtail a family holiday to deal with an “urgent staff issue” in London.

    He claimed £99.99 last year for a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee champagne – an 80th birthday gift for entertainer Bruce Forsyth – and spent £500 on a Christmas dinner for BBC executives in 2007.

    Jana Bennett, director of BBC Vision, holding creative control of the corporation’s television output, claimed £500 for the theft of her handbag while on official business.

    Notes on the claim said: “The BBC decided to pay half the cost of replacing the property and cash stolen.”

    She also charged £35 to have her hair styled for a TV interview and nearly £190 for vaccinations ahead of a trip overseas.

    On a trip to meet studio bosses in Los Angeles in May 2007, Ms Bennett claimed more than £1,300 for a stay at the luxury Raffles l’Ermitage hotel in Beverly Hills.

    Her attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2008 cost more than £1,100 in hotel bills.

    In May 2007 Ms Bennett spent more than £2,000 hosting a “talent” dinner with 22 attendees.

    In July 2007 she claimed £1,500 for a leaving party for Jay Hunt, who is now BBC1 controller.

    Ms Bennett also spent £400 on a cake to celebrate the end of the BBC’s series Any Dream Will Do, for a party for contestants’ families.

    She also claimed various sums of around £30 a time for “talent gifts” such as bouquets of flowers.

    Ms Bennett also spent £5 on a taxi “while carrying confidential documents” and £25 on a taxi when she “needed to make urgent phonecalls, carrying papers”.

    The expenses list also showed that in May 2007 Ashley Highfield, who was the BBC’s director of future media and technology, spent more than £450 under the heading “external hospitality” while attending the Edinburgh festival.

    He also claimed 54p in mileage for a meeting about the charity Comic Relief with Richard Curtis in September 2007.

    Mr Highfield also spent more than £200 on a new Apple iPod in the same month “for testing with BBC services”.

    In November 2007, chief operating officer Caroline Thomson spent £33.20 on hospitality for a “confidential discussion” before a meeting.

    In September 2007 she claimed £135 in “celebratory drinks” for an awards bash. The same month saw her spend a total of more than £200 for a leaving do held at her house – as it was “cheaper than a restaurant”.

    Jenny Abramsky, who was the BBC’s director of audio and music, spent nearly £550 in December 2007 on an internal Christmas lunch.

    Mark Byford, the deputy director general, spent £60 in May 2007 on “discussing 2012”.

    Mr Thompson spent £73.69 in September 2007 on a business lunch with Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell.

    In October 2007 he splashed out more than £1,800 on flights for a business trip to New Delhi and in December that year he spent more than £600 on the office Christmas party.

    Even charitable efforts clocked up significant expenses.

    Tim Davie, director of audio and music, spent nearly £130 on a discussion on Sport Relief and also charged £407.25 for a “Children in Need business discussion”.

    In September 2007 chief financial officer Zarin Patel claimed £700 for a “thank you” to Deloitte for work on a business plan.

    Earlier, Mr Thompson announced that in future the BBC would release expenses claims made by the corporation’s 50 highest-earning executives and its leading decision makers every quarter.

    Erik Huggers, the corporation’s director of future media and technology, claimed more than £2,500 for a three-day trip to Las Vegas in January which included a stay at the five-star Bellagio Hotel.

    Leading stars at the BBC face substantial pay cuts due to the recession.

    Those on large contracts include Jonathan Ross, said to be on £6 million a year; Graham Norton, who is believed to earn £ 2.5 million a year; Jeremy Paxman, reported to be paid £1 million, and Fiona Bruce, thought to earn £ 800,000 a year.

    For some highly paid stars, the salary reduction could reportedly be as much as 40 per cent.

    A hard-hitting MPs’ report also said recently that confidentiality agreements between the BBC and top radio stars were preventing full scrutiny of the way the corporation spent public money.

    The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said the BBC appeared to be paying some of its radio presenters more than twice what commercial stations paid theirs.

    The BBC refused to give the National Audit Office (NAO), the public spending watchdog, a breakdown of presenters’ salaries for a selection of radio shows unless the NAO signed a non-disclosure agreement, the committee said.

    Edward Leigh MP, the chairman of the committee, said it was “disgraceful” that the BBC could dictate what the NAO could inspect when public money was at stake.

    Telegraph

  • BBC boss says Islam should be treated more sensitively than Christianity

    BBC boss says Islam should be treated more sensitively than Christianity

    Islam should be treated more sensitively by the media than Christianity, according to the director general of the BBC

    By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent
    Last Updated: 2:39PM BST 15 Oct 2008

    Mr Thompson had earlier warned of a “growing nervousness about discussion about Islam” Photo: OLI SCARFF

    Mark Thompson claimed that because Muslims are a religious minority in Britain and also often from ethnic minorities, their faith should be given different coverage to that of more established groups.

    His comments come after the comedian Ben Elton accused the BBC of being scared of making jokes about Islam, while Hindus have claimed it favours Muslims over other religions.

    But Mr Thompson, speaking at the annual public theology lecture of the religion think-tank Theos, insisted the state broadcaster would show programmes that criticised Islam if they were of sufficient quality.

    The director general, whose corporation faced accusations of blasphemy from Christians after it allowed the transmission of the musical Jerry Springer -The Opera, also said his Christian beliefs guided his judgments and disclosed that he had never watched the Monty Python film Life of Brian which satirises the story of Jesus.

    In his speech last night, Mr Thompson claimed there are now more programmes about religion on BBC television and radio than there have been in recent decades, whereas coverage has declined on ITV.

    But asked whether it was correct that the BBC “let vicar gags pass but not imam gags”, as Elton claimed, he admitted it did take a different approach to Islam, which has 1.6million followers in Britain, compared to its approach to the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church.

    Mr Thompson said: “My view is that there is a difference between the position of Christianity, which I believe should be central to the BBC’s religion coverage and widely respected and followed.

    “What Christian identity feels like it is about to the broad population is a little bit different to people for whom their religion is also associated with an ethnic identity which has not been fully integrated.

    “There’s no reason why any religion should be immune from discussion, but I don’t want to say that all religions are the same. To be a minority I think puts a slightly different outlook on it.”

    However he pointed out that he had commissioned the comedy series Goodness Gracious Me, which he claimed had made fun of many religions, and claimed the BBC had shown more of the controversial Danish cartoons of the prophet Mohammed than other newspapers and television channels had done.

    Earlier this year Mr Thompson had warned of a “growing nervousness about discussion about Islam” and said no debate about religion should be censored.

    Mr Thompson said the broadcast of Jerry Springer – The Opera, which features Jesus as a talk show guest who admits to being “a bit gay”, had been the most controversial programme he had dealt with during his time at the corporation.

    “No political issue has so far come near Jerry Springer in terms of anger and emotion. It wasn’t politics that put a security guard outside my house, it was a debate about how the BBC handles religion.”

    However despite the storm over the programme, Mr Thompson, a practising Catholic, said his beliefs do play a part in the editorial judgments he makes and disclosed that he dislikes watching shows about the Bible.

    “I’ve never seen Life of Brian,” Mr Thompson said. “I’ve taken a personal choice very seldom to watch programmes that have depictions of Jesus.

    “I’m very sensitive about depictions of the Gospel story.”

    He also dismissed the idea that television is a “wellspring or accelerant” of immorality in society, and also that the BBC gives too much weight to the secular ideals of science or employs “moral relativism” when covering contentious issues such as medical ethics.

    Mr Thompson defended programmes that have been accused of promoting selfishness or nastiness, such as The Apprentice and The Weakest Link, claiming that viewers know they are only entertainment and do not ape the behaviour shown on them.

    He said that programmes such as EastEnders and The Archers deal with the consequences of people’s actions, even when they cover controversial topics, and claimed even science-fiction series such as Doctor Who have a moral backbone.

    “Doctor Who is not just about Daleks and Cybermen, it is about mothers and families and friendships,” he said.

    However Mr Thompson did admit the corporation had given over too much coverage last month of the launch of the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.

    “I must say that by the end of that week, even for those of us who share my love of the Higgs-Boson, there did seem to be an awful lot of it on the air.”

    A BBC spokesman said Mr Thompson did not mean Islam should be given preferential treatment, just that all religions are different.

    He said: “People should look at his actual comments rather than trying to infer additional meaning that isn’t there. What Mark Thompson said is that all religions are not the same – he did not say Islam, or indeed any faith, should be treated more sensitively than Christianity. In fact he made it crystal clear that no religion should be regarded as off limits for the BBC.”

    Source: www.telegraph.co.uk, 15 Oct 2008