BBC Boss Matt Brittin Asked News Unit To Examine Jason Arday Coverage After Cambridge Professor’s Death

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC‘s new director general ordered the UK broadcaster’s news division to assess its coverage of Jason Arday after the academic died by suicide last month. The University of Cambridge professor was subjected to intense press scrutiny for days amid a spiralling plagiarism row. He was found dead at his home in August, prompting soul-searching in British media over whether the coverage of the Arday allegations was proportionate. BBC boss Matt Brittin asked news chiefs to examine the volume of the corporation’s output on Arday in comparison with other UK media outlets. He told colleagues that it was right to take stock of the BBC’s coverage because the forensic media reporting appeared to contribute to Arday’s death. BBC News bosses stood by the broadcaster’s reporting, describing it as “fair and proportionate.” Brittin revealed the Arday mini-review during an all-staff briefing on Tuesday, during which employees raised questions about the BBC’s reporting on the professor. “It’s obviously a terribly tragic story, and a horrible, horrible outcome,” he told employees. “I did ask the team to look at our coverage as a result of that, and see where we were compared with other media. I think we played the coverage very straight.” Watch on Deadline Brittin said other publications ran “hundreds of stories” about the Arday scandal, though he did not provide an equivalent figure for the BBC. “I felt like many people in the newsroom: This is something where coverage seems to have directly contributed to a tragedy, and there’s a responsibility on everyone in the media to look at themselves in those times,” he added. Brittin, who has quickly earned a reputation for being very direct with colleagues, used the Arday issue to make a broader point about the BBC being more “critical” and less self-congratulatory about its output. He caveated his remarks by saying that the BBC is staffed by “brilliant professionals.” “In a fast-changing world we need to be a culture where we learn and we’re curious. And I think one of the things I’d observe is that sometimes we can be quite sea of green about things,” Brittin explained. “We’re very good at congratulating ourselves on what’s gone well. I’d like us also to be critical about what we could have done better, and are there things we could have learned from others out there in the media market?” In a statement on BBC News’ Arday output, a spokesperson said: “Jason Arday was a prominent figure at one of the world’s most prestigious universities, and the allegations made against him and the wider implications for academia made this a public interest story. “We believe we reported on the different aspects of this story in a fair and proportionate way and reflected a wide range of views in our coverage, including Mr Arday’s public statements and comment from supporters who spoke in his defence. When covering any story, we are always mindful to treat those involved with sensitivity.”