The BBC has been covering conditions in the NHS in relation to the cost of living crisis, with “paramedic” Debbie Wilkinson being given an abundance of screen time over the past few days. The trouble is, despite her introduction as such, Debbie isn’t just a paramedic. What the BBC was so keen on obscuring is their voice of the people as a union organiser, with a tory-bashing Corbynite history. Even a cursory Twitter search can find references to a “tory twit” and arguments that Tory government is a “death sentence” for the NHS. Her photos make clear from which wing of the Labour Party Debbie hails…

What makes this misjudgement worse is that the BBC came so close to almost pleasing Guido. The corporation knows Wilkinson’s background all too well, more properly introducing her in their 13.30 news bulletin as a union rep. Yet conveniently, when the flagship News at 6 came around, the BBC dropped useful viewer context. Of course Debbie deserves her platform, she also deserves an accurate introduction…

The BBC yesterday published its annual statement on the TV licence fee. Amongst the key takeaways was the increase in domestic customers who stated they no longer needed a licence. The figure rose by 270,000 from last year, reaching 1,960,000. That’s over 5,000 people a week…

The report then estimates “a fall of one percentage point in the number of people requiring a TV licence would result in a loss of income of approximately £36 million”. The corporation clearly needs to try and reconnect with the public to avoid even greater budgetary black holes. With the salaries of their highest paid stars also being revealed yesterday, one cost-saving solution is obvious to Guido…

The BBC today published its annual report, including the salaries of all earners over £150,000. Listed below are the politicos and other highest earners, with a percentage change on their figures from last year. Despite the supposed need for cutbacks, a lot of the figures appear to have remained very stable… 

Today

• Mishal Husain – £279,999 (NC)
• Nick Robinson – £274,999 (NC)
• Justin Webb – £259,999 (NC)
• Martha Kearney – £259,999 (+2%)

World at One

• Sarah Montague – £249,999 (NC)

PM

• Evan Davis – £274,999 (NC)

BBC Breakfast

• Naga Munchetty – £369,999 (+42%)
• Dan Walker – £224,999 (-25%)
• Charlie Stayt – £194,999 (NC)

BBC News at Six and Ten

• Huw Edwards – £414,999 (-3.5%)
• Gerge Alagiah – £329,999 (NC)
• Sophie Rayworth – £309,999  (+8.7%)

Question Time

• Fiona Bruce – £414,999 (+1.2%)

Andrew Marr Show

• Andrew Marr – £269,999 (-21%)

Newsnight

• Emily Maitlis – £329,999 (NC)
• Kirsty Wark – £249,999 (+16%)

BBC News

• Clive Myrie – £259,999 (+24%)
• Reeta Chakrabarti – £204,999 (+14%)
• Victoria Derbyshire – £244,999 (+40%)
• Ben Brown – £174,999 (NC)

On-air editors and correspondents

• Amol Rajan – £329,999 (+35%)
• Faisal Islam – £244,999 (+17%)
• Jeremy Bowen – £234,999 (+4.5%)
• Jon Sopel – £229,999 (-2.1%)
• Katya Adler – £219,999 (-2.2%)

Non-politics or news

• Gary Lineker – £1,350,000 (-0.7%)
• Zoe Ball – £980,000 (-14%)
• Steve Wright – £454,999 (-3.2%)
• Alan Shearer – £454,999 (+15%)
• Stephen Nolan – £420,000 (-2.4%)

Guido congratulates Amol Rajan and Clive Myrie for their wage hikes, while both Naga and Faisal Islam have seen theirs rise significantly for the second year in a row. Victoria Derbyshire is also a big winner, with her pay rising significantly even before she takes over at Newsnight. Gary Lineker will no doubt be distraught at both his £10,000 cut and the BBC’s failure to close the gender pay gap, which increased to 5.1%. The cost of living crisis must really sting on £1,350,000…

Read the full report here.

This morning’s ongoing media round has thrown even more fuel on the Chris Pincher fire. Following ex-Foreign Office Permanent Secretary Sir Simon McDonald’s bombshell letter this morning, Dominic Raab had the task once again of spinning the latest unsustainable No.10 line to the press. Through plenty of coughing and spluttering, Raab insisted on the Today Programme that 

“Aside from the Westminster rumour mill, any allegation that had resulted in formal disciplinary action… whilst there was inappropriate behaviour [from Pincher], it didn’t trip the wire into disciplinary action… the individual who made the complaint did not want formal disciplinary action taken.”

Just minutes later, McDonald appeared on Today himself to once again take a sledgehammer to No.10’s line that Boris wasn’t briefed on Pincher’s behaviour in person in 2019, and Raab’s claims that since no “further disciplinary action” was taken, the matter was resolved:

“I disagree with that, and I dispute the use of the word ‘resolved’… the complaint was upheld… Number 10 have had five full days to get the story correct, and that still has not happened… it’s sort of telling the truth and crossing your fingers at the same time and hoping people aren’t too forensic in their subsequent questioning.”

In a matter of hours, the line has gone from “it’s not true” to “the PM didn’t know of any formal complaints”. Chaos.

Ofcom has released a midterm report of the BBC, reviewing its approach to complaints and public perceptions of its impartiality. The report slams the broadcaster for failing to uphold its complaints procedure, demanding it “change[s] its policy and publish sufficient reasoning in cases where it decides not to uphold due impartiality and due accuracy complaints”, and warning that public trust in its impartiality had declined dramatically in recent years. As Guido reported on Monday, new figures show that public distrust in the BBC has fallen by 20 points in the last five years… 

According to Ofcom’s own figures, 11% of adults had cause to complain about the BBC in the last year, with ITV at 6%, and Channel 4 at 4%. Of that figure, most didn’t have confidence their complaints would be upheld or taken seriously. Why would they? Time and again, the BBC’s top stars clearly breach social media impartiality rules and, at worst, face a warning and slap on the wrist. A few months later, they do it again…

Ofcom chief Dame Melanie Dawes didn’t mince her words:

“Viewers and listeners tell us they aren’t happy with how the BBC handles their complaints, and it clearly needs to address widespread perceptions about its impartiality. So we’re directing it to respond to these concerns, by being much more transparent and open with its audiences. The BBC must also adapt quickly to keep up with changes in what audiences want, and how they get their content.”

The review also warns the BBC to get its act together quickly, or it will recommend the government gets involved:

“We are also expecting the BBC to alert us at an early stage to potential serious editorial breaches… If the BBC fails to do this, we will recommend that the Government makes this a legal requirement.”

One of the major proposed changes is an updated Operating Licence with a far greater emphasis on transparency. The full review is expected early next year…

The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism‘s annual Digital News Report for 2022 is out. The data-heavy report is full of findings about how and where news is consumed. The data points that struck Guido hardest were the loss of trust in BBC News. It has fallen 20 points in the last five years, from 75% to 55%. Equally telling is the proportion who say they distrust the BBC, which has more than doubled from 11% to 26%. This the Reuters Institute says is because

“The majority of these are from the political right, echoing criticism from Boris Johnson’s government about an alleged anti-Brexit and liberal bias, but we also find that low trust in the BBC also comes from those who are less interested in news altogether. … Declining trust is a particular challenge for public media organisations, as they try to fulfil their mission to appeal to all audiences.”

As the BBC becomes a cultural pump for the woke agenda dressed up as entertainment, it loses legitimacy and weakens the case for universal funding. If it dismays a sizeable section of the population the case for moving to a subscription model funded by consenting viewers becomes overwhelmingly stronger. No doubt leftie metropolitan types will point out that the least trusting of the BBC are Brexit-backing Tory blokes without degrees in media studies, so it doesn’t matter.  It does because they are forced to pay a television tax to fund an organisation that despises them, a situation which cannot prevail for much longer…