Interview with Martin Bashir’s Diana: BBC boss says ‘we need to learn’ from damning report in Panorama episode | UK News

The BBC’s chief executive has written to staff telling them that lessons must be learned in the wake of the damning report on the circumstances surrounding Panorama’s interview with Princess Diana.

In an internal email, Tim Davie said people BBC felt “deeply disappointed” by the contents of Lord Dyson’s 127-page report, which revealed that the company was covering up “deceptive behavior” used by the journalist Martin bashir for what was described as the ‘scoop of the decade’ in 1995.

He said the results were “particularly shocking” given the BBC’s commitment to fair and honest journalism.

Mr Davie took over as managing director of Lord Hall last year, which conducted an internal investigation in 1996 into the maintenance. He was director of news and current affairs at the time.

Both face questions about why Bashir was rehired by the BBC in 2016. The journalist – who became a household name after the Diane interview – left the BBC for ITV in 1999, but returned 17 years later to become religious affairs correspondent and then religion editor.

Mr Davie told staff: “Personally, I am deeply proud of the BBC that I run today, as I all know. We should all be proud to continue working for the world’s leading public service broadcaster.

“Right now, the best way to build and maintain our reputation is to continue to do exceptional work across the organization, earning the trust of the public. Thank you to all of you for continuing to achieve this goal as we go through this demanding time.

“We have a lot to think about. I know we now have significantly stronger processes and governance in place to ensure that an event like this does not happen again.

“However, we also need to learn lessons and continue to improve.”