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Emily Maitlis: "I don't see what protection a charter really gives the BBC"

The News Agents podcaster and former Newsnight presenter says that the BBC needs to make decisive choices about its future.

Emily Maitlis pictured smiling as she looks ahead.

David Levenson/Getty Images

Published: Monday, 15 June 2026 at 9:30 am

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This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.

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New BBC director-general Matt Brittin has said, “Tough choices are unavoidable.” Is that the right approach?

I don’t know him, but from everything I’ve heard he’s a gem and a boost to the confidence of the BBC at a time when it really needs it. I want the BBC to flourish and I think it’s great that an outsider like Matt sees the shape of the complicated landscape ahead and wants to do a job in public service.

Does the licence fee still make sense?

I’d be more than happy to pay it five times over but I understand it’s demanding for people in straitened times. I remain a huge fan of the BBC. I’d be lost without it. Radio 4 is still a daily habit, a comfort blanket and source of joy. Simultaneously, I’d say that it’s undeniably easier to work as a journalist from outside of the BBC. When your salary isn’t being paid directly by the public, when you don’t have every editorial decision, every perceived bias, weighed against the fact that people are compelled to fund you.

The BBC Charter is being reviewed. Are you confident the Corporation can continue to produce authoritative and impartial journalism?

I think I am. I know that doesn’t sound too confident, but a charter is only as robust as the people in power will make it. So, if there is a massive change of government and a lurch to a different kind of politics then I don’t see what protection a charter really gives the BBC.

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Does the BBC have a problem with women? Recently, high-profile women like you and Mishal Husain have left.

It’s not just about women; I don’t think the BBC is good at holding on to good people. I understand that organisational impulse, that there’s no one more important than anyone else. But don’t be surprised if the people that can move do move.

How can the BBC navigate incidents like the Panorama Trump editing scandal?

The BBC is best when it recognises its shareholders – the licence fee payers, but also the people that work within its midst. It’s important to hear from the journalists on the front line, rather than defaulting to a place where the BBC responds to every screaming tabloid headline as if there’s a major crisis.

Why do mistakes happen?

Well, you could ask those BBC journalists if they can do the job when they’ve had 80 per cent of the team around them cut. In that situation you have to make choices and things start going wrong. Salami-slicing away at budgets but pretending nothing’s changing is a recipe for disaster. You end up with an entirely weakened system, as opposed to an organisation that’s making decisive choices and feels confident in those choices.

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