BIASED BEEB
BBC ignores views of public because it’s full of woke liberals, claims new boss as he says MOTD needs less footy
Telly veteran reckons the answer is for the BBC to employ more working class northerners
THE biased BBC ignores the views of millions because its ranks are stuffed with woke liberals who are out of touch with ordinary folk — according to its own chairman.
Samir Shah admitted locals’ concerns about migration are not aired by the corporation.
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He conceded the slant of its news reports was down to the high number of “metropolitan liberals” it employs with arts and humanities degrees.
And he said the BBC should focus on hiring from the “Northern working class, where we’re poor”.
But last night critics hit back at the broadcaster and suggested his ideas would not work.
In his first interview since taking the role in March 2024, Indian-born Mr Shah, 73, said the public were mostly sympathetic to boat migrants but, in communities taking them in, the BBC had not done enough to air concerns about school places, seeing a doctor and housing.
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He added: “We have people in various parts of the country who really object to having a whole lot of migrants coming in. It is our job to hear their point of view. Not to say: ‘Oh, I don’t like those views.”
On BBC staff, he said: “The media recruits graduates from the arts, humanities, and they tend to be metropolitan and to have a point of view you could describe as liberal centre, centre left.
“We kind of reflect that. The corporation needs to do a lot more to ensure our staff reflects the country. We need variety and diversity.”
Mr Shah, below, admitted rows over the Gaza coverage were a dagger to the heart of trust in the BBC.
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BBC2 documentary Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone triggered a storm last month when investigative journalist David Collier revealed child presenter Abdulla Eliyazouri, 13, is the son of a Hamas politician.
The show was pulled from iPlayer and the Beeb has apologised – at Mr Shah’s insistence — for “serious, unacceptable flaws”.
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He said: “We make mistakes, we correct mistakes. There needs to be greater accountability. People have to face the consequences”
A senior exec is rumoured to be facing the axe over the debacle and there have been calls for police to investigate if money given to the boy’s family ended up with Hamas.
Mr Collier warned: “Systemic problems at the BBC will not be addressed by finding a few scapegoats, or engaging in pointless recruitment exercises.
“Mr Shah’s remarks about working class northerners, only go to highlight how dated derogatory stereotypes and ‘identity politics’ remain firmly at the helm of the sinking BBC ship.”
Another critic John O’Connell, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: “Time and again, the corporation has milked licence-fee payers while acting less like a neutral broadcaster and more like a megaphone for metropolitan liberals. It’s time to scrap the hated TV tax.”
Newcastle sheet metal worker Peter Hawthorn, 56, said: “The BBC is on its knees. You can tell by way they have dealt with situations regarding their own staff.
“Their employees also get paid way too much — hundreds of thousands of pounds to sit in a chair talking.”
Retired gas filter Derrick Bolam, 70, added: “The BBC doesn’t represent the everyday person from working class places. They need to look outside of London.”
Mr Shah said he wants to stop BBC stars moonlighting in the private sector. Last year news anchor Clive Myrie failed to declare 28 speaking engagements for which he earned up to £250,000.
Mr Shah said: “It’s a privilege to work for the BBC. They should just stick to it.” He said if stars reckon they could earn more at ITV or Sky they should leave, adding: “No one’s forcing you to work for us.”
CHATS OF THE DAY
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MATCH of the Day should feature less football and more analysis, the BBC chairman has controversially claimed.
Samir Shah reckons most fans have seen the action online before MoTD hits screens on Saturday evening.
Furious supporters last night urged him not to mess with the 61-year-old format and ex-boss Harry Redknapp, 78, said: “It’s not a talk show. People tune in because they want to watch the football.
“I know it’s different to the old days, when it was the only way to see football on TV, but you still want to see what’s happened, not listen to someone telling you why.”
MoTD kicked off in 1964 and is world’s longest running football show.
But Mr Shah, 73, said in an interview with The Sunday Times: “It should be built around analysis and examination of the match to give viewers a deeper insight.”
The Sun’s head of sport Shaun Custis hit back: “There is a misconception that everyone has seen the goals before Match of the Day. People do have lives, they aren’t watching football all day on Saturday.
“We’re already drowning in analysis.
“Nobody down the pub talks about expected goals, transitions and goal involvements.
“And many people I know record MoTD and fast- forward through the analysis just to watch the matches.”
Newcastle United fan and chef Chris Marshall, 41, added: “I watch Match of the Day if my team wins but if they were to make that shorter I wouldn’t watch it at all. If they did that, I’d just get highlights off my phone.”
MotD is already in line for a summer make-over when long-time host Gary Lineker steps aside after 26 years.
Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates will take over.
Viewing figures are down from the show’s 1970s heyday when 12 million tuned in to watch Jimmy Hill present the day’s highlights. It still attracts a healthy audience of around 3.5 million.
LINE OF DUTY UNIT PLAN
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BBC chair Samir Shah pledged to stop presenters abusing their position by setting up a Line of Duty-style internal affairs unit.
Mr Shah wants to root out bad apples after being stunned at the “procession” of powerful presenters facing accusations.
He told of his shock at Huw Edwards’ downfall. The 63-year-old newsreader paid a vulnerable man for sex pictures and a police probe discovered that he had made indecent images of children.
Mr Shah said: He lied about everything — and deceived us.”
The Beeb has been hit by a string of other scandals and Mr Shah said that he wanted “an internal affairs unit, like in Line of Duty” — the Anti-Corruption Unit 12 on the hit BBC cop show — to prevent future abuse of junior staff happening.
He added: “We need to have some way of preserving whistleblowers’ anonymity, so we can throw people out and do it quickly. I’m absolutely determined.
“This is a cancer we need to cut out.”
RICH MUST PAY MORE FOR LICENCE
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BBC CHAIRMAN Samir Shah reckons richer people should pay more for the licence fee.
He is in favour of introducing a sliding scale so poorer households effectively get a discount.
And the way the money is collected could change, with a household levy replacing the licence fee as it currently stands.
It would be collected alongside council tax and would mean there would be no need for enforcement officers chasing those who haven’t paid, and no more prosecutions in court.
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He said such a punishment “seems too harsh” and said of the sliding scale, which could match council tax bands, “Why should people who are poor pay the same as the wealthy?”
He dismissed calls for the licence fee — currently £169.50 a year — to be replaced by a Netflix-style subscription model.
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