Mark Thompson says…
“There are some European countries like the Republic of Ireland and France where, as it were, the electorates may be prepared to countenance being given a second chance to resit the exam and come up with the “right” answer. With the UK, the referendum was regarded at the time as being definitive by the majority of the country. To return to it risks seeming like a stab in the back by the elite.”
As Director-General, Mark Thompson led the BBC for 8 years, and is now CEO of the New York Times. In this in-depth interview, he reflects in detail on his career, and the BBC’s challenges both past and present; reveals the demands on a Brit leading an iconic American newspaper, while keeping it relevant and profitable in the digital age; and makes the case that the language of modern politics – dominated with ‘truthiness’, ‘authenticism’ and the derision of expertise – is now at odds with the public good.
“It’s superb. Heard it tonight. Best yet, amid stiff competition” – Amol Rajan
Content produced and sponsored by Media Masters
Worth remembering the time an editor on the BBC News “turned, snarled, and sank his teeth into [the] left upper arm” of a junior colleague. The biter? Mark Thompson, later promoted to Director General. Clarkson for DG…
