View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

BBC news coverage ‘predictable’ and ‘one-paced’ says former Sky News boss

By Gavriel Hollander

The man who led the review into the BBC’s decision to drop Newsnight’s Jimmy Savile investigation has labelled the corporation’s news coverage “predictable” and “one-paced” with “a tendency to naivety”.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s The Media Show, former head of Sky News Nick Pollard said: “The principle fault is that it’s very predictable; nothing ever surprises you. You don’t get the sense that somebody has said ‘I have got a really great idea about how we might portray this story or a different way of explaining something'.”

Pollard said the BBC approached news as a “committee-driven process” and was not as “ideas driven” as its competitors, such as ITN or Sky.

He added: “There’s a slight tendency to naivety in some of the coverage, particularly its home news coverage.

“They are slightly too keen on latching on to pressure groups (or) special interest groups… it’s an emotive bit of interview or picture, but it does not necessarily explain the story.”

Pollard, who has worked at the corporation as well as at ITN and Sky, added that the BBC’s new director of news, former Times editor James Harding, could help freshen up its news coverage.

“I don’t think the fact that he has not worked in TV or broadcasting is a problem,” he said. “I think it’s an advantage.”

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

He also said that Harding, who took up his new role this week, should be more hands-on and chair three editorial meetings a day at the BBC for the first six months.

Pollard’s review into failings at the BBC over the Savile scandal, published last December, found that the decision to drop the investigation into the former presenter  was “flawed” but “taken in good faith”.

However, he told The Media Show how the decision had been influenced by “a particularly poisonous set of personal relationships” among staff on the programme.

He added that these relationships “coloured almost everything that went on and logical decision making went out of the window as a result of that". 

Topics in this article : , , ,

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network