Dyke Calls For Abolition Of BBC Board Of Governors
Former BBC director general, Greg Dyke, has issued a call for the Corporation’s board of governors to be abolished, claiming that they are powerless to defend the broadcaster’s independence and are unable to regulate effectively.
In a speech to the Royal Television Society last night the outspoken broadcast boss stated that he had long intended to speak out against the Corporation’s governors, but had been unable to during his time at the BBC for fear of causing a management rift.
However, with his BBC employment now relinquished, and a book to promote, Dyke had no hesitation in claiming the board was “obsessed with their own future”. He called for a new regulatory organisation, separate from Ofcom, to oversee the Corporation.
In a speech to senior media officials, Dyke said the current system of regulation was more suited to “a small charity” than the BBC. He also criticised the very nature of the BBC’s board, claiming that they brought little or nothing to the Corporation, stating: “Over the years the myth has been perpetuated by the governors that they have guaranteed the independence of the BBC. I don’t think the evidence supports that.”
He added: “You cannot run one of the largest and most powerful media organisations in the world with a governance system more suited to a small charity, where a range of the great and the good sit on the board not because they bring any relevant skills or expertise, but because they fit a criterion of being Welsh, Scottish, black, Asian, a trade unionist, a businessman, a Tory or a Labour supporter.”
The former director general’s remedy to the problem is to adopt a system similar to that of Channel 4, whereby a board of executives and non-executives oversee the broadcaster “not as one of the great and the good but because of the specific skills they bring to the organisation”.
Dyke was ousted from his position as director general following the damning Hutton Report into claims made by BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme. The scandal surrounding the Government’s so called ‘dodgy dossier’ and Radio 4’s reporting claimed the jobs of both Dyke and chairman of the BBC, Gavyn Davies (see Greg Dyke Steps Down As BBC Director General).
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