Dyke’s Departure Casts Doubt Over Future Role Of BBC
Calls for fundamental changes to the way the BBC is governed intensified last night following Greg Dyke’s decision to step down as director general in the wake of the Hutton report.
The BBC’s board of governors voted by a margin of two to one to dismiss Dyke, in a move that effectively forced him to step down and propelled the Corporation deeper into what is arguably the most serious crisis in its history (see Greg Dyke Steps Down As BBC Director General).
The departing BBC director general said in an emotional email to staff: “I accept that the BBC made errors of judgement and I’ve sadly come to the conclusion that it will be necessary to draw a line under this whole affair while I am still here.”
However, Dyke has since questioned some of the conclusions of Lord Hutton’s inquiry, which found the BBC defective in its handling of events surrounding the death of Ministry of Defence weapons advisor Dr David Kelly.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It is perfectly fair for you to draw the conclusion that I don’t accept all of the report. I think it was Stuart Purvis, the former chief executive of ITN, who said it is remarkable how he has given the benefit of judgement to virtually everyone in the government and no-one in the BBC.”
Dyke’s decision to step down comes at a crucial time for the BBC, which is facing the prospect of having every aspect of its operations examined as part of a wide-ranging Government review designed to coincide with Charter Renewal in 2006 (see Government Details Root And Branch Review Of BBC).
Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, has stressed the importance of the BBC remaining independent of Government and insists that Charter Renewal, which takes place every ten years, would have a far ‘bigger canvas’ than the Hutton report.
However, the fallout from the Hutton fiasco will no doubt intensify calls for the BBC’s board of Governors to be scrapped and for elements of the Corporation to brought under Ofcom, the recently established media super-regulator (see GEITF 2002: Puttnam Calls For BBC To Come Under Ofcom).
The departure of BBC chairman, Gavyn Davies, earlier this week also means the Government is faced with the prospect of appointing a new candidate to head the Corporation’s ten-strong board of Governors (see Davies Resigns Following Hutton Report Criticisms).
The new BBC chairman will play a crucial part in shaping the future role of the BBC and will be responsible for finding a new director general to lead the Corporation out of controversy. A number of names have already been linked to the position, including BBC One controller Lorraine Heggessey, BBC director of radio and music Jenny Abramsky, and Channel 4 chief executive Mark Thompson.
However, Greg Dyke, who joined the BBC four years ago, will be a hard act to follow. His tenure as director general has seen the launch of a raft of digital television and radio services, as well as the establishment of the highly successful Freeview digital terrestrial platform (see Freeview Sales Soar In Run Up To Christmas).
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