Wednesday 7 September 2022 12:41 AM Tim Davie insists BBC is doing a 'pretty good job' despite facing a storm over ... trends now
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The BBC’s boss yesterday defended the broadcaster over a string of impartiality controversies – claiming it was doing a ‘pretty good job’ at tackling bias.
Director-general Tim Davie told MPs the corporation was ‘delivering well’ when it came to neutrality.
His upbeat assessment came despite a series of rows, including a comedian mocking Liz Truss on the BBC’s top politics show, Gary Lineker’s social media activity and a comedy show airing crass insults about Boris Johnson.
He said the BBC had not displayed bias ‘in the slightest’ by booking comedian Joe Lycett on Laura Kuenssberg’s first show in the prime Sunday morning slot.
The comic overshadowed Miss Truss’s appearance by sarcastically applauding before mocking her promises to help families with energy bills. Lycett’s behaviour sparked anger from Tory MPs and a call for an apology from the BBC.
But playing down the incident, Mr Davie said the audience ‘saw it for what it was’.
He said: ‘We can debate exactly... about whether it was the right booking, but what I will say is Laura conducted herself... in an exemplary fashion in a slightly difficult situation. We move on.’ He added: ‘I don’t think it displays BBC bias in the slightest. The audience saw it for what it was.’
Grilling: BBC boss Tim Davie faces MPs yesterday
The BBC’s boss yesterday defended the broadcaster over a string of impartiality controversies – claiming it was doing a ‘pretty good job’ at tackling bias
The BBC boss, who said there had been only 66 complaints about the row, described the
