The resignation of both Tim Davie, BBC’s Director General, and Deborah Turness, the head of news, yesterday (8 November 2025) was an extraordinary moment in BBC history that could change the direction of the world’s most important and trusted broadcaster.
As someone who worked for the BBC for over 20 years and ended up as Editor for the Middle East and North Africa, the news is alarming and smacks of political interference in the BBC’s workings. As the Observer Editorial stated today: “This is seismic. To lose both the director general and the CEO of BBC News at the same time is unprecedented. It’s an extraordinary moment in the history of the BBC. It can’t be overstated.”
Like many people, I have some criticism of the BBC, but I still believe that it is by far the best broadcaster in the world, and its journalists try very hard to be impartial and unbiased in their coverage of news. This is why many Americans get their news from the BBC, rather than from US media. There is an accelerating decline in the quality of US media, as both the broadcast and the written media are controlled by a few oligarchs and special interest groups, whose main aim is to make money or push their own special agenda, or often the political agenda of some foreign countries, particularly Israel.
Also, most American media are cutting back on their news coverage and have become mainly sources of entertainment and parroting the reports put out by some news agencies or government departments. Social media is also mainly owned by a few oligarchs with their own agenda, although there is a growing number of independent social media which try to put forward alternative views. As a result, the public is subjected to a cacophony of voices and does not know which one to trust.
For those who do not know how the BBC works, it is composed of a chairman and a governing Board, whose members are appointed by the government, and an editorial board or the Executive Committee, that manages day-to-day operations. There has always been a certain amount of tension between the two, with the journalists trying to safeguard their independence and the government-appointed board trying to implement government policies.
The latest developments have been mainly due to the board’s decision to stop an apology by the director general and the News CEO from being released, thus turning a relatively minor editorial mistake into a crisis. The former Sun editor, now BBC presenter, David Yelland, has called it “nothing short of a coup”. He claims the BBC Board has been undermined and “elements close to it have worked with hostile newspaper editors, a former PM and enemies of public service broadcasting”.
Under these circumstances, many broadcast media that resent the BBC’s licence fee, which is a fee paid universally by all British citizens to ensure the BBC’s independence, would like to diminish the role of the BBC to something similar to that of the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, and increase their own revenue through more funds spent on advertising.
Many US and other foreign corporations are also keeping an eye on the BBC, hoping to cut its fees and operations and get a piece of the cake. They believe that ending the licence fee would mean spending billions of pounds worth of advertising in the commercial media. There are already many popular demands to cut the amount of the BBC’s licence fee, not realising that the loss of such a trusted, national broadcaster will diminish the quality of news and will create a media jungle, with each broadcast service going to the highest bidder.
This is why it is very important to safeguard the BBC’s continued strength, independence and viability. In addition to providing fairly independent and impartial news, the BBC provides a wide range of cultural, musical, literary, social, sporting, scientific, and entertainment programmes that most other broadcasters don’t. It also serves as a focus for national debate and dialogue, especially at times of crisis or national celebration, which binds the whole nation together and provides a unified focus for national unity and cohesion.
To win public trust and improve its popularity, the BBC should reduce the influence of foreign lobbies on its coverage and ensure its coverage is comprehensive, impartial, and free from political pressure. It should continue to speak to power and broadcast the facts without fear or favour.
Many viewers have rightly criticised the BBC’s coverage of the Gaza genocide, often acting as a mouthpiece for Israeli propaganda. However, this is a criticism which can be laid at the door of most Western broadcasters due to the influence of powerful Jewish lobbies. The BBC must try to make amends for this failure if it wishes to regain public trust. It should be remembered that the BBC’s biggest strength lies in the level of public support that it receives, which is often its shield against government interference or abolishing or reducing the amount of the license fee. If it loses even the diminished amount of public trust that it still enjoys, it will become easy prey for the exploitation of powerful lobbies or foreign media corporations.
If the BBC is undermined or controlled by special lobbies and interest groups, the country will lose a great asset which it cannot replace later.
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F Jahanpour 