Mark Thompson (media executive)

Thompson in April 2005

Thompson was appointed Director-General of the BBC on 21 May 2004.[9] He succeeded Greg Dyke, who resigned on 29 January 2004 in the aftermath of the Hutton Inquiry. Although he had originally stated he was not interested in the role of Director-General and would turn down any approach from the BBC, he changed his mind, saying the job was a "one-of-a-kind opportunity". The decision to appoint Thompson Director-General was made unanimously by the BBC Board of Governors, headed by the then new Chairman Michael Grade (another former chief executive of Channel 4). His appointment was widely praised: Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, Shadow Culture Secretary Julie Kirkbride and Greg Dyke were amongst those who supported his selection. He took up the role of Director-General on 22 June 2004[9] (Mark Byford had been Acting Director-General since Dyke's resignation). On his first day he announced several management changes, including the replacement of the BBC's sixteen-person executive committee with a slimmed-down executive board of nine top managers.

In 2007 it emerged that the BBC had been involved in a number of editorial guideline breaches. Thompson, as BBC editor-in-chief, investigated the breaches, and presented his interim report to the BBC Trust on 18 July 2007.[10] The Trust felt that the BBC's values of accuracy and honesty had been compromised, and Thompson outlined to the Trust the actions he would take to restore confidence.

Later that day he told BBC staff, via an internal televised message,[11] that deception of the public was never acceptable. He said that he, himself, had never deceived the public – it would never have occurred to him to do so, and that he was sure that the same applied to the "overwhelming majority" of BBC staff. He also spoke on BBC News 24[12] and was interviewed by Gavin Esler for Newsnight. He stated that "from now on, if it [deceiving the public] happens we will show people the door."[13] Staff were emailed on 19 July 2007[14] and later in the year all staff, including the Director-General, undertook a Safeguarding Trust course.[15]

Thompson in November 2008

In October 2008, Thompson had to cut short a family holiday to return to Britain to deal with the arrival of The Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row. Thompson took the executive decision to suspend the BBC's highest paid presenter, Jonathan Ross, from all his BBC work for three months without pay. He also said it was the controversial star's last warning.[16] Thompson reiterated the BBC's commitment to Ross' style of "edgy comedy", arguing that "BBC audiences accept that, in comedy, performers attempt to push the line of taste".[17] Thompson had previously defended the star's conduct and salary in 2006, when he described Ross as "outstanding" and said that "the very best people" deserved appropriately high salaries.[18]

In September 2010, Thompson acknowledged some of the BBC's previous political bias, which he said he had witnessed early in his career. He stated: "In the BBC I joined 30 years ago there was, in much of current affairs, in terms of people's personal politics, which were quite vocal, a massive bias to the left". He added: "the organisation did struggle then with impartiality".[19]

Thompson was criticised by religious groups in relation to the broadcast of Jerry Springer: The Opera, with a private prosecution brought against the BBC for blasphemy. Lord Pannick QC appeared and won the case. The High Court ruled that the cult musical was not blasphemous, and Pannick stated that Judge Tubbs had "acted within her powers and made the only decision she could lawfully have made; while religious beliefs were integral to British society, so is freedom of expression, especially to matters of social and moral importance."[20]

A number of commentators have suggested that Thompson has a pro-Israeli editorial stance, particularly since he supported the controversial decision by the BBC not to broadcast the DEC Gaza appeal in January 2009.[21] Complaints to the BBC about the decision, numbering nearly 16,000, were directed to a statement by Thompson.[22] In May 2011, Thompson ordered the lyrics 'free Palestine' in a rap on BBC Radio 1Xtra to be censored.[23] During a meeting of the British Parliament's Culture and Media Committee in June 2012, Thompson also issued an apology for not devoting more coverage to the murders of an Israeli settler family in the West Bank, saying the "network got it wrong" – despite the fact that the incident occurred on the same day as the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[24]

Tam Dean Burn wrote in The Herald: "I would argue that this bias has moved on apace since Thompson went to Israel in 2005 and signed a deal with prime minister Ariel Sharon on the BBC's coverage of the conflict."[25]

In October 2009, Thompson defended the decision by the BBC to invite British National Party leader Nick Griffin to appear on the Question Time programme following criticism by Labour politicians including Home Secretary Alan Johnson and Secretary of State for Wales Peter Hain. The decision also led to protests outside BBC Television Centre by UAF campaigners. Thompson said:

It is a straightforward matter of fact that... the BNP has demonstrated a level of support which would normally lead to an occasional invitation to join the panel on Question Time. It is for that reason alone... that the invitation has been extended. The case against inviting the BNP to appear on Question Time is a case for censorship... Democratic societies sometimes do decide that some parties and organisations are beyond the pale. As a result, they proscribe them and/or ban them from the airwaves. My point is simply that the drastic steps of proscription and censorship can only be taken by government and parliament... It is unreasonable and inconsistent to take the position that a party like the BNP is acceptable enough for the public to vote for, but not acceptable enough to appear on democratic platforms like Question Time. If there is a case for censorship, it should be debated and decided in parliament. Political censorship cannot be outsourced to the BBC or anyone else.[26]

In 2010, Thompson was identified as the highest paid employee of any public sector organisation in the UK, earning between £800,000 and £900,000 per year.[27] In January 2010, Thompson was criticised over his apparent £834,000 salary by BBC presenter Stephen Sackur, who told him "there are huge numbers of people in the organisation who think your salary is plain wrong and corrosive."[28]

Thompson was Director-General of the BBC when on 29 July 2011 it was announced that the corporation would no longer televise all Formula One Grand Prix live, instead agreeing to split the broadcast between the BBC and Sky Sports. This prompted an outcry from several thousand fans and a motion on the UK Government e-petition site. On 2 September 2011, Thompson and several "senior BBC figures" were called upon by the House of Commons to answer questions over the exact nature of the broadcast arrangement.[29]

Although Thompson departed the BBC before public exposure of the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal and is not noted in the BBC chronology of the unfolding coverage,[30] Thompson faced questions about his role in the events around Savile's actions and BBC coverage of them. According to a New York Times review, Thompson denied knowing of a BBC Newsnight programme on accusations against Savile before it was dropped soon after Savile's death in October 2011.[31]

Thompson left the BBC in September 2012 after eight years as Director-General. The Independent said the BBC was in "apparent great shape" with his departure and the BBC Trust's chairman, Chris Patten, described his directorship as "outstanding".[32]

In late 2007, Richard Eyre, former artistic director of the National Theatre, accused the BBC under Thompson's leadership of failing to produce programmes "that inspired viewers to visit galleries, museums or theatres".[33] Tony Palmer, a multi-award-winning filmmaker, stated that the BBC "has a worldwide reputation which it has abrogated and that's shameful". He concluded, "In the end, the buck stops with Mark Thompson. He is a catastrophe."[34] In May 2008, fertility expert and BBC presenter Robert Winston accused Thompson's leadership of showing "cowardice",[35] and following Thompson's departure he accused the corporation of "dumbing down" its science programming and "pursuing viewing figures" rather than producing quality programmes.[36]