David Hendy
@davidhendy.bsky.social
Writer & broadcaster, Prof. Emeritus University of Sussex. 'The BBC: A People's History' (2022). 'Noise: A Human History', BBC Radio 4 (2013).
Rep: Caroline Dawnay, United Agents
https://societyofauthors.org/soa-member/david-hendy/
Rep: Caroline Dawnay, United Agents
https://societyofauthors.org/soa-member/david-hendy/
Pinned
The BBC as the Nation's Clock
Or how a century of broadcasting has shaped the rhythms of our day
www.bbc.co.uk
As the clocks change, my latest piece for the BBC:
The BBC as the nation’s timekeeper.
Featuring, among others, Big Ben, Sunday lunchtimes, Tony Blackburn on the joys and perils of breakfast radio, Monica Sims on daytime possibilities, Richard Hoggart on TV evenings, and the 1987 Hurricane’
The BBC as the nation’s timekeeper.
Featuring, among others, Big Ben, Sunday lunchtimes, Tony Blackburn on the joys and perils of breakfast radio, Monica Sims on daytime possibilities, Richard Hoggart on TV evenings, and the 1987 Hurricane’
Important contribution from Lewis Goodall, who describes in devastating detail his own personal experiences - and suggests Robbie Gibb and David Grossman should be removed from their current posts.
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
The truth about impartiality at the BBC
And the hysteria of the current "crisis"
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Important contribution from Lewis Goodall, who describes in devastating detail his own personal experiences - and suggests Robbie Gibb and David Grossman should be removed from their current posts.
Has Robbie Gibb been sacked yet?
If not, why not?
If not, why not?
Outgoing BBC news head rejects claims of institutional bias as Trump welcomes resignations – latest updates
US president claims editing of his speech by Panorama was an attempt to ‘step on the scales of democracy’
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Has Robbie Gibb been sacked yet?
If not, why not?
If not, why not?
Reposted by David Hendy
Robbie Gibb once suggested that reporters should reflect if they were getting more retweets from one side than the other - a braindead analysis that ignores that fair and impartial reporting of education might get more Tory retweets than say, criminal justice.
Stephen really does have the best take on this. It’s not clear that the BBC Board or indeed the rest of the News team really understood the message of the previous reviews, which were about getting detail right. Instead they wanted to know what was ‘biased’ or not like they were blotting out stains.
The impossible dream some people on the British right are chasing is that you can have a BBC News operation that retreats from detail and expertise, that takes dictation from the government, but this will only create incompetence and failure when it suits you:
November 10, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Robbie Gibb once suggested that reporters should reflect if they were getting more retweets from one side than the other - a braindead analysis that ignores that fair and impartial reporting of education might get more Tory retweets than say, criminal justice.
Reposted by David Hendy
A good day to listen to our proud, joyous history of the BBC: One of the greatest British inventions of the 20th Century. An institution which, even at its worst, is far better than its detractors podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:02 AM
A good day to listen to our proud, joyous history of the BBC: One of the greatest British inventions of the 20th Century. An institution which, even at its worst, is far better than its detractors podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
Prescott SEEMS staggeringly ignorant about the vital distinction between ‘balance’ and ‘impartiality’ - though of course he, along with his right wing allies, is very deliberately blurring the distinction.
Huh? How do you do a "balancing" program when one candidate did an insurgency trying to overturn the election and the other...didn't?
Would Prescott have been satisfied with an hour of people telling BBC journalists why they didn't try and stoke a riot to overturn Trump's second win?
Would Prescott have been satisfied with an hour of people telling BBC journalists why they didn't try and stoke a riot to overturn Trump's second win?
Michael Prescott was ‘“shocked” that after an hour-long Panorama documentary dealing with Trump and the January 6 insurgency, there was no “similar, balancing” programme about Kamala Harris.’
More read about the machinations between the BBC resignations, the more worrying it becomes
More read about the machinations between the BBC resignations, the more worrying it becomes
November 10, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Prescott SEEMS staggeringly ignorant about the vital distinction between ‘balance’ and ‘impartiality’ - though of course he, along with his right wing allies, is very deliberately blurring the distinction.
Reposted by David Hendy
Precisely. We have a quisling problem.
Notable that the supposedly “patriotic” wing of British politics wants to destroy / defund almost all of our national institutions
November 10, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Precisely. We have a quisling problem.
Reposted by David Hendy
From the archives 🔎
GB News ‘Founder’ in Business with Two Top Priti Patel Appointees
Sir Robbie Gibb, who helped found the new ‘anti-woke’ media channel, is tied to the Government’s bid to attack Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion
bylinetimes.com/2021/02/10/g...
GB News ‘Founder’ in Business with Two Top Priti Patel Appointees
Sir Robbie Gibb, who helped found the new ‘anti-woke’ media channel, is tied to the Government’s bid to attack Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion
bylinetimes.com/2021/02/10/g...
GB News ‘Founder’ in Business with Two Top Priti Patel Appointees
Nafeez Ahmed reveals how Sir Robbie Gibb, who helped found the new ‘anti-woke’ media channel, is tied to the Government’s bid to attack Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion
bylinetimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:33 AM
From the archives 🔎
GB News ‘Founder’ in Business with Two Top Priti Patel Appointees
Sir Robbie Gibb, who helped found the new ‘anti-woke’ media channel, is tied to the Government’s bid to attack Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion
bylinetimes.com/2021/02/10/g...
GB News ‘Founder’ in Business with Two Top Priti Patel Appointees
Sir Robbie Gibb, who helped found the new ‘anti-woke’ media channel, is tied to the Government’s bid to attack Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion
bylinetimes.com/2021/02/10/g...
‘…each criticism of BBC coverage comes from the anti-progressive culture-war playbook.’
The BBC is facing a coordinated, politically motivated attack. With these resignations, it has given in | Jane Martinson
The corporation should have stood up to the Telegraph, Trump and the Tories. Now, its enemies know how little it takes for it to fold, says Jane Martinson, professor of financial journalism
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:30 PM
‘…each criticism of BBC coverage comes from the anti-progressive culture-war playbook.’
Extract from report in the Guardian on the right wing manoeuvres that have led to the resignation of the DG Tim Davie
November 9, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Extract from report in the Guardian on the right wing manoeuvres that have led to the resignation of the DG Tim Davie
Reposted by David Hendy
However valid, it's wearying that there are resignations over allegations of left-wing bias when so many of us despair every time BBC News drops everything to livestream a speech by Nigel Farage. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
Tim Davie resigns as BBC director general after accusations of ‘serious and systemic’ bias in coverage
Davie tells staff departure was “my own decision” but it comes with the BBC preparing to apologise for the way it edited a Trump speech
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:29 PM
However valid, it's wearying that there are resignations over allegations of left-wing bias when so many of us despair every time BBC News drops everything to livestream a speech by Nigel Farage. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
Reposted by David Hendy
Statement by Tim Davie:
November 9, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Statement by Tim Davie:
Reposted by David Hendy
I can't imagine a job i'd like to do less. Managing an organisation held to a ludicrous standard by roaring idiots on a daily basis, while the main mediums it uses are all in decline and it's starved of resources.
November 9, 2025 at 6:25 PM
I can't imagine a job i'd like to do less. Managing an organisation held to a ludicrous standard by roaring idiots on a daily basis, while the main mediums it uses are all in decline and it's starved of resources.
Reposted by David Hendy
Just to reiterate my view, having studied the history of the BBC for over a quarter of a century - as well as having worked there for several years as a journalist:
Robbie Gibb should have absolutely no role whatsoever in the governance of the Corporation.
Robbie Gibb should have absolutely no role whatsoever in the governance of the Corporation.
Boris Johnson trying to undermine BBC leadership, insiders fear after leak
Director general under pressure after release of memo criticising reporting on Trump, trans rights and Gaza
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Just to reiterate my view, having studied the history of the BBC for over a quarter of a century - as well as having worked there for several years as a journalist:
Robbie Gibb should have absolutely no role whatsoever in the governance of the Corporation.
Robbie Gibb should have absolutely no role whatsoever in the governance of the Corporation.
Tim Davie expected to resign as BBC DG.
The person who SHOULD go is Robbie Gibb. His presence is a poison in the bloodstream of the national broadcaster.
The person who SHOULD go is Robbie Gibb. His presence is a poison in the bloodstream of the national broadcaster.
Tim Davie expected to resign as BBC director general
Corporation has faced accusations of ‘serious and systemic’ bias in its reporting
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Tim Davie expected to resign as BBC DG.
The person who SHOULD go is Robbie Gibb. His presence is a poison in the bloodstream of the national broadcaster.
The person who SHOULD go is Robbie Gibb. His presence is a poison in the bloodstream of the national broadcaster.
‘…. the worst pollution event I have ever seen.’
‘Environmental catastrophe’ fears as millions of plastic beads wash up on Camber Sands
MP asks for explanation from Southern Water amid concerns the spill could have dire impact on rare sea life
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:04 PM
‘…. the worst pollution event I have ever seen.’
Just to reiterate my view, having studied the history of the BBC for over a quarter of a century - as well as having worked there for several years as a journalist:
Robbie Gibb should have absolutely no role whatsoever in the governance of the Corporation.
Robbie Gibb should have absolutely no role whatsoever in the governance of the Corporation.
Boris Johnson trying to undermine BBC leadership, insiders fear after leak
Director general under pressure after release of memo criticising reporting on Trump, trans rights and Gaza
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Just to reiterate my view, having studied the history of the BBC for over a quarter of a century - as well as having worked there for several years as a journalist:
Robbie Gibb should have absolutely no role whatsoever in the governance of the Corporation.
Robbie Gibb should have absolutely no role whatsoever in the governance of the Corporation.
Reposted by David Hendy
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.
WAC wrong-headedness
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
WAC wrong-headedness - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Some of you will know that I have been very involved over the past months with attempts to reverse the wrong-headed changes to access at the BBC Written Archives Centre (above, with...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.
‘Who, bluntly, would you trust more to be impartial on the Middle East—Robbie Gibb, Michael Prescott or Lyse Doucet?’
November 7, 2025 at 7:48 PM
‘Who, bluntly, would you trust more to be impartial on the Middle East—Robbie Gibb, Michael Prescott or Lyse Doucet?’
Reposted by David Hendy
BBC really burying the lede there
November 7, 2025 at 12:07 PM
BBC really burying the lede there
Reposted by David Hendy
Still recruiting PhD students for our Media Studies Department! Please see link below for more info @joshshepperd.bsky.social @stevenfrost.bsky.social @cumediastudies.bsky.social
we, @cumediastudies.bsky.social, are still recruiting new grad students to begin fall 2026! We are also hoping to see apps for our PhD program from individuals with a secondary interest in obtaining training in digital humanities #dh. details here and pls share---> docs.google.com/document/d/1...
MDST Graduate Programs Recruitment
University of Colorado Boulder Media Studies Department Recruiting Graduate Students for Fall 2026! The Media Studies Department at the University of Colorado Boulder is now accepting applications fo...
docs.google.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Still recruiting PhD students for our Media Studies Department! Please see link below for more info @joshshepperd.bsky.social @stevenfrost.bsky.social @cumediastudies.bsky.social
Reposted by David Hendy
Human Geography at Leicester is facing closure. Staff contracts are to end in June 2026; students are to be relocated to other universities, or taught out by a maximum of two (!) teaching-only staff. Other departments and subjects are facing closure, too. Please join the demo!
November 6, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Human Geography at Leicester is facing closure. Staff contracts are to end in June 2026; students are to be relocated to other universities, or taught out by a maximum of two (!) teaching-only staff. Other departments and subjects are facing closure, too. Please join the demo!
Reposted by David Hendy
Turns out he was allergic to tacky decor.
(Photo by @andyharnik /@GettyImages)
(Photo by @andyharnik /@GettyImages)
November 6, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Turns out he was allergic to tacky decor.
(Photo by @andyharnik /@GettyImages)
(Photo by @andyharnik /@GettyImages)
Reposted by David Hendy
The BBC’s continued use of X is indefensible
Vital piece of investigative reporting from Sky. They've uncovered the X algorithm which feeds users extremist right wing material from the moment they join the site. It is a far-right radicalisation engine, by design.
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
news.sky.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:06 PM
The BBC’s continued use of X is indefensible
Reposted by David Hendy
🎧: On Media Confidential, @arusbridger.bsky.social and the FT’s @janinegibson.ft.com discuss the media response to the train stabbing in Huntingdon and the Telegraph’s attacks on the BBC.
The BBC is in a mess—but it’s not what you think
Alan and Janine Gibson weigh in on the Telegraph’s attacks on the BBC and...Celebrity Traitors?
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 3:32 PM
🎧: On Media Confidential, @arusbridger.bsky.social and the FT’s @janinegibson.ft.com discuss the media response to the train stabbing in Huntingdon and the Telegraph’s attacks on the BBC.
Reposted by David Hendy
Horrific, stupid news from @uniofnottingham.bsky.social — they are closing their music department. Apparently they all found out suddently in a meeting yesterday.
It is one of the best music departments in the country — solidarity with my colleagues and their students
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
It is one of the best music departments in the country — solidarity with my colleagues and their students
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Music and modern languages courses suspended at University of Nottingham
In a statement the institution also says it is
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Horrific, stupid news from @uniofnottingham.bsky.social — they are closing their music department. Apparently they all found out suddently in a meeting yesterday.
It is one of the best music departments in the country — solidarity with my colleagues and their students
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
It is one of the best music departments in the country — solidarity with my colleagues and their students
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...