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Former editor of the Daily Telegraph, Charles Moore, has dismissed himself for the post of BBC president.
Moore, whose writings on race and Islam have come under renewed scrutiny since he was publicly associated with the role, is understood to have retired amid family health problems despite claims that it was Downing’s first choice. Street for the post.
The arch critic of the BBC was suggested as a candidate for the part-time job, which is appointed by the government and has the power to fire the CEO.
David Clementi, the current president, will resign when his term ends in February, after overseeing the appointment of Tim Davie as the new CEO.
The Sunday Times, which last weekend quoted a government source as saying Moore’s appointment was “practically a done deal,” reported that he had decided not to pursue the role for personal reasons. The newspaper also claimed that Moore, who was once fined for refusing to pay his television license fee in protest of BBC content, would have wanted substantially more than the current salary of £ 100,000 funded by the license fee.
Despite strong speculation linking Moore to the job, government sources have consistently emphasized that the formal hiring process for the position has yet to begin. But the government has made no secret of its desire to challenge the BBC, and if the prime minister wanted to force a particular candidate for the post, he probably could.
Another Fleet Street heavyweight, Paul Dacre, former editor of the Daily Mail, has been suggested as the prime minister’s preferred pick to be chairman of Ofcom, which oversees the communications regulator’s board. A similar open competition process is necessary for that position, but there are few things that prevent a preferred candidate from being forced into the organization.
Speculation about Moore raised concerns within the BBC about the direction the corporation would seek to take. Julian Knight, the Conservative MP who chairs the cultural selection committee, said that appointing a man who refused to pay a license fee as president of the BBC was “like being convicted of fraud and being in a bank.”
Moore’s earlier writings also caused concern. In a 1992 article in the Spectator, Moore wrote: “The Korean installs the grocery store that the Negro then robs: that is the cartoon that modern America recognizes. Why has this happened then? One explanation, made endlessly in conversation and hardly ever in print, is that there really is something different about blacks, or at least black men, or at least young black men. “
He went on to say that people in the United Kingdom and the United States “detect in young black men an aggression, a defiance and a disregard for normal moral and social limitations that frighten them. […] If it is true, as it surely is that some races (Jews are the obvious example) are very entrepreneurial and talented, it may also be true that some are the opposite. “
The coverage also served as a warning to Davie about actions the government is willing to consider. Ministers are expected to soon announce the decriminalization of non-payment of the license fee, in what could be a severe blow to the BBC’s revenue.
Davie has already promised to emphasize fairness in the BBC’s news production, an annoyance from conservative ministers who perceive the corporation’s journalism to lean to the left. It has also committed to providing material for audiences across the UK, indicating less London-centric programming and a less explicit attempt to go after younger audiences – policies that dovetail with the goals of the Conservative government.
