View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

Report: BBC’s Alan Yentob accused of making ‘improper’ call to Newsnight ahead of report on charity he chairs

By William Turvill

The BBC’s creative director Alan Yentob (pictured, Reuters) has been accused of making an "improper" call to Newsnight ahead of its report on a charity of which he is the chairman.

Yentob, who is also editor and presenter of BBC programme Imagine, is reported to have phoned staff on the BBC Two current affairs programme hours before its broadcast on the Kids Company.

The Daily Mail reports that Yentob also joined Kids Company chief executive Camila Batmanghelidjh at the studios of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the next morning. He was not invited to the studio and did not speak on air, it reports.

The newspaper quotes a source as saying: “Alan Yentob tried to maintain to Newsnight that this was not a story when the public interest was clear… It is common knowledge that he rang the Newsnight office before broadcast to find out what was going on. This was improper.”

On Yentob’s presence at the Today studios, the Mail quotes a source as saying: “Wittingly or unwittingly, this could have had an effect on how the interview went… It is highly irregular for a senior BBC executive to have been hanging around the Today studios at that time of day. He doesn’t work on the programme and shouldn’t have been there.”

The Mail also quotes Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen as saying that Yentob should resign from the BBC or the Kids Company “straight away”.

A BBC spokesperson said: "The fact that BBC broke this story shows that our journalism has been impartial and in the public interest.

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

"We are not going to comment on gossip but everyone knows that Alan Yentob is the Creative Director of the BBC and doesn't have any editorial control over BBC News.

"He is chair of Kids Company and can speak to media outlets about issues related to them."

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