BBC chair suggests public may overstate appetite for impartial news

The chair of the BBC has suggested the public may overstate their appetite for impartial news, in the same way that “99% of people say they wash their hands after going to the loo”.

Richard Sharp said his organisation is facing the joint challenges of stopping audiences drifting away to more partisan news outlets, while at the same time warning that the BBC’s ability to provide accurate information is under threat because of funding cuts.

“Impartial news may be too unprofitable to do properly,” Sharp said at a panel event organised by the Social Market Foundation thinktank, suggesting this will lead commercial news organisations to increasingly seek more partisan stances.

He said the reality of what people actually click on or watch increasingly leans towards provocative and sensational content, making it harder for the BBC to judge whether its output is connecting with audiences.

He said: “Around nine out of 10 adults say that impartial news is more important than coverage that reflects their point of view. But we also have to bear in mind, whether apocryphal or not, that 99% of people say they wash their hands after going to the loo.”

Asked whether the corporation is able to afford the costs of meeting the expected standards of its news output, Sharp added: “It’s a real challenge, you need research capabilities and we’ve had to cut back some of the resources available. Which is why I disagree with the government on the licence fee – it’s damaging to the BBC, there’s no doubt it’ll have an effect.”

Further cuts to BBC services are expected to be announced in May, with bosses currently working out what needs to be cut in the wake of the government’s latest below-inflation licence fee deal. This follows more than a decade of staff redundancies and internal reorganisations caused by repeated cuts to the fee.

Sharp said he believed there was a gap in the market for the BBC’s type of journalism as commercial news organisations become increasingly polarised, although the risk is that audiences drift away to more entertaining partisan outlets such as Rupert Murdoch’s forthcoming talkTV. He cited a conversation with an unnamed individual at a British financial newspaper who said 70% of their online stories were not read by anyone.

As a result he is placing faith in incoming BBC news boss Deborah Turness to “weaponise impartiality” and make it the corporation’s selling point to audiences. Her arrival has been repeatedly delayed while her current employer – arch-rival ITN – continues to make her serve out her notice period.

He highlighted the success of viral explainers by the BBC’s Ros Atkins and suggested they might point towards “a commercial opportunity for the BBC globally”.

He also said the corporation was impartial when it came to coverage of the war in Ukraine: “It’s about truth. Our value to Russians and Ukrainians is to report the truth, no matter how inconvenient that may be.”