BBC presenter’s row: Key questions remain for the company and the Sun

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By Katie Razal, Culture and Media Editor

1 hour ago

After a day when the BBC produced a full timeline of its actions through this story, Where Are We Now?

For the BBC, major questions remain, primarily about what it did after it received the complaint in May.

It is difficult to assess the actions of the Corporate Investigations Team without knowing the exact details of the complaint. We still don’t have that.

But on the face of it, one email attempt to which the complainant did not respond and one phone call that did not go through appears on the surface to have gone to huge lengths to verify the allegations.

This would have been understandable if the complaint was about a presenter mistaking some fact in the broadcast.

But we know that the BBC considered it serious, although it did not involve a crime. A serious complaint about a high-profile software provider, reportedly involving huge sums of money to someone younger, definitely warrants more ad hoc investigation.

BBC Director-General Tim Davie may be well aware of this, which is why he spoke earlier of an internal review to assess whether operations are up to scratch and whether red flags are being raised quickly enough.

The BBC has now confronted the media about this story. She had little choice because the briefing for the launch of the annual report was already in the journalists’ diaries.

But Mr Davey has also appeared on Radio 4’s World at One for an extended interview. His comment was that this was not a “good situation” to say the least.

But he also gave a clear explanation of what the BBC manages to do – balancing its duties as employer of a presenter who should be treated fairly with its role as a public service broadcaster aimed at transparency.

Of course, cynics might say Davy breathed a sigh of relief when the Metropolitan Police asked the BBC to pause their investigation. At one point in the interview, the general manager said he could not comment for this reason.

It’s the equivalent of kicking this in the grass, if not tall, then certainly a little taller than cut grass. A little breathing room for the BBC to rate it.

But the pressure on Davey and company is intense, with media crews training their cameras at New Broadcasting House in central London for days.

This story has become a series of allegations and counter-allegations. Sun and family stand by their reckoning. It appears as if the family is “being attacked by the BBC for not fully understanding their complaints system”, The Sun told us.

She says that after the original complaint in May, £1,000 was paid in June to the young man by the presenter. Sign of “No Action” from the BBC.

You don’t feel comfortable that the bosses haven’t spoken to the broadcaster for nearly seven weeks. that the complaint was not escalated until Sun contacted the BBC before its story was published.

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WATCH: Tim Davie, the BBC’s managing director, was confronted with questions on Tuesday about the organisation’s presenter class

But The Sun also has questions to answer, especially after the legal letter sent to the BBC on behalf of the youngster on Monday.

Did they approach the young man for comment as they prepared to tell their story – as the lawyer claims they did not. What evidence do they have to support their claims that have dominated the front pages? Why didn’t they name the presenter?

It is unclear how this story ends. The BBC has now reported the allegations from another person. The Sun has a new front page about a presenter who allegedly broke lockdown rules to meet a young stranger from a dating site.

Will there be more to come – or will there be more allegations and counter-allegations?

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