Thompson Admits BBC 'had massive bias to the left'

BBC Director General Mark Thompson has said the BBC was guilty of a "massive bias to the left" in the past.
In a recent magazine interview Thompson commented that staff were "quite mystified" by the rise of Margaret Thatcher, but now there was "less overt tribalism" among its journalists.
He told the New Statesman: "It is a broader church. The BBC is not a campaigning organisation and can't be, and actually the truth is that sometimes our dispassionate flavour of broadcasting frustrates people who have got very, very strong views, because they want more red meat. Often that plays as bias. People think, 'Why can't they come out and say they are?' And that can play out on left and right."
An internal report from 2007 said the BBC had to make greater efforts to avoid liberal bias. With that in mind, Conservative commentators have long taken aim at the BBC as a hotbed of left-wingers.
Thompson, who joined the corporation in 1979 as a production trainee, added: "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.
"The organisation did struggle then with impartiality. And journalistically, staff were quite mystified by the early years of Thatcher.
"Now it is a completely different generation. There is much less overt tribalism among the young journalists who work for the BBC."
In the 2007 report, the BBC came under fire for coming late to several crucial stories including immigration and Euroscepticism which it described as "'off limits' in terms of a liberal-minded comfort zone".
In relation to the BBC and the Labour government in its last few years, Thompson described the relationship as "quite tetchy" and said he was optimistic of a good settlement in forthcoming licence fee discussions with the coalition.
He commented: "What we want is an effective and businesslike relationship with government - it's not about personal relations."
Later in the interview, Mr Thompson said his Roman Catholic faith shapes the set of values by which he runs the BBC.
"I have lots of colleagues at the top of the BBC... of religious belief, quite a lot with no religious belief at all and quite a few committed atheists. I think they've all got values they can bring to work," he said.
"I do think the BBC is very much - sometimes, frankly, almost frighteningly so - a values-driven organisation. People's sense of what's right and wrong, and their sense of justice, are incredible parts of what motivates people to join. I'm part of that. For me, that's connected with my religious faith but the key thing is: you don't have to be a Catholic."
(BMcC/KMcA)