Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Mark Thompson: 'BBC acted promptly on executive pay concerns'

Pa
Tuesday 28 September 2010 13:52 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Director General Mark Thompson has defended the BBC from accusations that it failed to act quickly enough on the issue of executive and talent pay.

The corporation has come under fire in recent years for the pay packets of its top stars and executives.

But Mr Thompson told the Royal Television Society International Conference: "The BBC was one of the very first public bodies to start moving on executive pay, freezing pay, stopping bonuses."

He pointed out that the policy "has consequences ... we just lost our Controller of BBC1 (Jay Hunt) to Channel 4".

He added: "We have acted promptly on that issue."

Mr Thompson said about executive pay: "When you look at the concerns that the public raise about the BBC, when they're given a list these don't rate high."

He added that it was "wrong" to suggest the corporation is relenting too much to its critics by freezing the licence fee for two years and allowing the National Audit Office full access to its accounts.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in