The “crisis” within the BBC has been “brewing for a long time”, former culture secretary Sir John Whittingdale told the People’s Channel.
The broadcaster became the subject of international attention after a damning expose claimed the corporation has produced misleading content.
After director-general Tim Davie and BBC News chief exeuctive Deborah Turness resigned from their roles, chairman Samir Shah issued an ardent defence of the organisation.
In a letter to the culture, media and sport committee, Mr Shah admitted that there were “occasions when the BBC gets things wrong”.
But, speaking to GB News presenters Tom Harwood and Nana Akua, Sir John declared: “This is a crisis that has been sort of brewing for a long time.
“The Michael Prescott revelations were truly shocking because what they showed was not just a single incident where the BBC got it very badly wrong, but a whole catalogue of reporting which failed to meet the impartiality standards we’ve come to expect from the BBC.”
He further named the BBC’s objectivity and impartiality as theCorporation’s “strongest asset”, which has now been “threatened” by the row.
“People will no longer feel able to trust the BBC. So it does represent a real threat to the reputation around the world of the BBC,” the Tory added.
Sir John Whittingdale gave his verdict on the row
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However, he opened up to the People’s Channel about what “worried [him] most”.
He told Nana and Tom “it was not just the revelations contained within Michael Prescott’s report, but the fact that he gave this to the board quite a number of weeks ago and absolutely nothing happened”.
“It appeared to have been put on a shelf and forgotten about, and it was only after it leaked into the Daily Telegraph that any of this started,” Sir John concluded.
“It should have been done weeks ago.”
“It is at least a start, but it should have been done weeks ago. It shouldn’t have been weeks before the BBC finally woke up to the fact that this does represent a very serious crisis.
“That action needed to be taken.”
The chairman’s letter, revealed earlier on Monday, read: “On top of the specific stories, EGSC (Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee) also identified concerns about underlying problems, for example in the Arabic service or long form journalism.
“These two areas have been discussed at length at the EGSC and action has been taken to tackle this kind of problem.
The BBC bias row led to the resignations of senior officials Tim Davie and Deborah Turness on Sunday
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GETTY
He further added it was “simply not true” that Michael Prescott “uncovered” issues that the BBC has sought to “bury”.
The BBC was thrown under the limelight after The Daily Telegraph revealed a leaked memo sent to senior officials outlining “shocking” breaches of impartiality.
Penned by Mr Prescott, the 19-page-long document was handed to the BBC board, pointing towards the “shocking breaches”.
Within the paper, BBC Arabic was ruled as failing in its duty to provide impartial news, with Mr Prescott declaring the content “considerably different” to BBC News content.
In the same document, the “doctored” Donald Trump speech was highlighted where his January 6, 2021 speech was edited to appear as if he was encouraging his followers to “fight like hell”.
Previously, No10 confirmed that Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy had been “assured” by the corporation that the matters outlined in the document were being investigated.
Mr Trump has now threatened to launch legal action against the British institution amid claims the broadcaster edited a speech by the US President.