Delivering the MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival, the former Newsnight presenter referred to the “Tory philology at the heart of the BBC” as she spoke of her own perceived impartiality while working for the broadcaster. Maitlis has twice been accused of showing bias against Boris Johnson’s government, the first when she discussed former councilor Dominic Cummings’ blockade trip to Barnard Castle and the second after she retweeted Piers Morgan, who questioned the government’s response to the pandemic. Watch the entire lecture on YouTube here. Referring to the speed of the BBC’s response to a Downing Street complaint about her comments to Cummings, Maitlis said: “Put that in the context of the BBC board, where another active Conservative operative – a former Downing Street spin doctor and former adviser to BBC rival GB News – now sits, acting as the BBC’s impartiality arbiter.’ Image: The BBC told Sky News that allegations about its board are ‘completely false’ He continued: “According to the Financial Times, he has tried to block the appointments of journalists he sees as damaging to government relations, prompting the deputy Labor leader (among others) to call it ‘Tory cronyism at the heart of the BBC’. In response to Maitlis’ speech, the BBC told Sky News: “The BBC’s board has a collective responsibility for protecting the BBC’s independence and ensuring that it fulfills its mission and public purposes. It is made up of executive and non-executive members from a range of backgrounds.” The company called Maitlis’ comment about a Financial Times reporter’s claim that a BBC board member played a role in the selection of journalists “completely false”. Sky News has also approached the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for comment. The board’s role is to ensure that the BBC fulfills its mission and public purpose. Maitlis appeared to be referring to former Downing Street communications director Sir Robbie Gibb, who joined the BBC’s board in May 2021. Before working in No 10 for the Conservative Party between 2017 and 2019, Gibb also had a successful 25-year career at the BBC, culminating in his role as Head of BBC Westminster. Before that, he was deputy editor of Newsnight and editor of The Daily Politics and This Week. Gibb has also previously acted as an editorial consultant to GB News. Image: Dominic Cummings in the Downing Street Rose Garden in May 2020 Explaining the detail of the Newsnight introduction that led to her reprimand, she said the program had little feedback on the night of the show and only became problematic after Downing Street’s complaint to management, which she said came the next morning. Maitlis told the Edinburgh audience of industry experts that while government complaints were not unusual, the speed with which the BBC sought to appease the complainant was. He said: “Within hours, there was a very public apology, the program was accused of failing to be impartial, the recording disappeared from iPlayer and there were paparazzi outside my front door.” While he criticized the speed of the BBC’s response, which he said appeared to be intended to “send a message of reassurance directly to the government itself”, he said he had received support from an unexpected corner, admitting that Dominic Cummings “texted me that evening to offer him stern support.” The broadcaster received more than 20,000 complaints and ruled that Maitlis breached impartiality rules. Image: David Harewood interviews BBC chairman Richard Sharp. Photo: Edinburgh Television Festival Earlier in the day, BBC chairman Richard Sharpe told the Edinburgh Television Festival that he would “confront government interference”, insisting they “value the BBC”. Mr Sharp, who is a former banker and prominent Tory party donor, was interviewed by actor David Harwood. He became chairman of the BBC in 2021. Maitlis – who made headlines around the world with her exclusive interview with Prince Andrew in 2019 and has interviewed prime ministers, presidents and politicians during her long career – also said that being a journalist “becomes more difficult”. He called on journalists to question those in power, asking why so many are “so afraid of scrutiny” and name-checking politicians including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former US President Donald Trump and Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries. Urging journalists to get ahead of the changing political landscape, Maitlis told the festival audience: “We are stunned by the rising temperature in which facts are lost, constitutional rules are broken, claims often go unchallenged. “We – journalists, management teams, organizations – are prepared to back down, even apologise, to prove how journalistically fair we are. This can be exploited by those who cry ‘bias’. Or down – they can. Critically, they are losing – lose to the public. Image: Donald Trump speaking at a rally in Washington in January 2021 “When we hear Donald Trump or Zach Goldsmith or Nadine Dorries or Marjorie Taylor Green talking about a ‘witch hunt’ or Boris Johnson going down the path of ‘Deep State’ conversation, our senses need to be primed. This is often a precursor to the rejection of legitimate checks and balances. We should ask why they are so afraid of control.” He also touched on fake news and the power of social media, calling it “extremely conducive to the language of populism because it benefits simplistic, emotional messages that are suited to elevating grievance.” Maitlis began her speech by talking about Donald Trump’s election victory in 2016 and ended by talking about him “unilaterally declaring himself the winner of an election he lost” in 2020. She also referred to her 2020 Newsnight interview with Hollywood star Robert De Niro, in which the actor accused Trump of “not caring how many die” during the pandemic. Admitting that she told her editor at the time, “we can’t put it out. It’s too anti-Trump,” she said it was an example of journalism being censored in order to avoid an imagined backlash and falling into the trap of false equivalence in an attempt to be impartial. Image: Emily Maitlis’ infamous 2019 interview with the Duke of York. Photo: BBC Newsnight She ended with a joke and a reference to her infamous interview with Prince Andrew: “I apologize to anyone who came thinking it was going to be about the Prince Andrew interview. We’ll have to wait until next time.” Maitlis is launching a new podcast next week with Global and Persephonica, co-hosting with ex-BBC journalist Jon Sopel. The Edinburgh Television Festival 2022 runs from Wednesday 24 August to Friday 26 August, with Sky News as the official media partner. Stars including Succession’s Brian Cox, Strictly winner and former EastEnders star Rose Ayling-Ellis and Philomena Cunk actress Diane Morgan will also appear later in the festival.
