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BBC Director-General underlines news values for war and peace
BBC Director-General Greg Dyke today (Thursday 24 April 2003) outlined the risks to the BBC of crossing the line between patriotism and objective journalism.
Speaking at a journalism symposium at the Goldsmiths College, University of London, Mr Dyke said: "If Iraq proved anything, it was that the BBC cannot afford to mix patriotism and journalism.
"This is happening in the United States and if it continues will undermine the credibility of the US electronic news media."
He said that, in the UK, impartiality means giving a range of views, including those critical of the Government.
"We [the BBC] are here for everyone in the UK, a trusted guide in a complex world. We perform this role best by exercising the freedom to air a wide range of opinion and to report the facts as best we can. In doing so, far from betraying the national interest, we're serving it."
Outlining the challenges raised by the recent conflict such as more 24-hour news, the risks faced by embedded reporters and un-attributed, unreliable information on the internet, Mr Dyke said: "These are serious challenges for any news organisation aiming to increase the quality as well as the quantity if its coverage.
"For the BBC, as the country's most trusted source of news and current affairs, we have a particular responsibility to take account of them.
"While seizing every opportunity to improve the range and choice of our output, we cannot afford to compromise on its honesty and integrity."
Recalling that at times of conflict and crisis the BBC's coverage always comes under intense scrutiny from all sides, Mr Dyke said: "Only by constantly resisting any pressures which threaten our values will we be able to maintain the trust of our audiences.
"That's why we must temper the drama and competition of live, rolling news with the considered journalism and analysis people need to make sense of events."
He rejected criticism from the Government over keeping a BBC reporting team in Baghdad, saying: "The whole culture of BBC journalism is based on the drive for accurate and impartial reporting."
He said reflecting a range of opinions and eyewitness reports from around the world allowed people to see the whole picture.
"And we must never allow political influences to colour our reporting or cloud our judgement.
"Commercial pressures may tempt others to follow the Fox News formula of gung-ho patriotism but for the BBC this would be a terrible mistake.
"If, over time, we lost the trust of our audiences, there is no point to the BBC."
Referring to a BBC interview with the American Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, by David Dimbleby, Mr Dyke said: "When excerpts were played in the States, many commentators agreed that American interviewers wouldn't have taken such a robust approach", said Mr Dyke.
"The aim certainly wasn't to win some intellectual battle of wills or to trip Mr Rumsfeld up. It was all about testing his arguments and not letting him gloss over difficult issues.
"On American television today politicians don't face that sort of interrogation. For the health of our democracy, it's vital we don't follow the path of many American networks and lose the will to do this."
Notes to Editors
A full copy of the speech is available here
* An independent MORI poll found that 86% or respondents watched BBC ONE for news coverage of the war in Iraq (ITV - 67%; Sky News - 32%) and BBC ONE was the most trusted channel by 36% of respondents (ITV - 10%; Sky News - 8%)
* Nearly 90% of the UK population turned to the BBC since the war started
* BBC News Online was recording 130 million page impressions a week, compared to 85 million in the week following September 11
* Online usage in the USA increased by over 40% and by 10% in Canada
* BBC World audiences increased by 77.4 million homes during the conflict to reach 300 million homes in 200 countries
* The World Service has a weekly audience of 150 million people worldwide, now, including a record four million listeners a week in the USA
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