EXCLUSIVE: A BBC internal investigation has found that the star presenters of its relaunched news channel were not promised their jobs before an open recruitment process.
Matthew Amroliwala, Christian Fraser, Yalda Hakim, Lucy Hockings, and Maryam Moshiri were announced in February as the chief presenters of BBC News, but unsuccessful candidates complained that managers decided on the line-up last year before allowing people to apply.
Daryl Maitland, head of HR at production arm BBC Studios, was brought in to investigate the recruitment process. He delivered his report this week, concluding that the BBC was fair to the 15 presenters who applied for the five roles, which command salaries of up to £230,000 ($280,000).
He did not support claims that the five successful presenters were pre-selected because they were already familiar to international audiences on BBC World News.
Maitland is said to have reached this conclusion despite hearing evidence from a so-called “whistleblower” among the five presenters, who said they effectively had a “tap on the shoulder.” Two sources unconnected to the dispute said that the successful candidate told Maitland that they were given reassurances they would secure one of the sought-after posts.
Sources said Maitland’s conclusions were not a surprise given that his investigation was not truly independent of BBC management. Others said the BBC simply followed its long-established grievance procedures in asking a manager from outside of the news division to investigate the dispute.
The BBC said: “We do not comment on HR issues.”
Concerns about the recruitment process were raised by five female presenters, who remain in limbo about their future on the news channel, six months after the BBC merged its international and domestic networks into a single service.
Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone, Geeta Guru-Murthy, Kasia Madera, and Annita McVeigh have been on the bench since March. The presenters are keen to return to work, but do not wish to take a pay cut or a demotion. In their absence, the BBC has turned to countless hours of freelance cover.
As Deadline reported last week, there is hope that the conclusion of Maitland’s review could mean that the BBC’s dispute with the five women enters its endgame. Insiders say the disagreement has left a cloud over the relaunched BBC News channel and staff are keen for it to be resolved so the network has the best chance of success.
UK viewers have been switching off the BBC News channel since its relaunch. Its audience reach was 8.9M viewers in September, which is likely to be one of its worst months in years, according to Barb, the UK’s official audience research group. It was a drop of around 600,000 viewers when compared with August, which is traditionally a quiet month for TV viewing.
Hakim, one of the five BBC News chief presenters, announced in July that she was leaving to join Sky News. She signed off earlier this month, telling viewers it was the “privilege and honor” of her career to work for the BBC.
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Source: DLine
