Kuenssberg: I’ve never been told what to say
Ex-BBC political editor denies Maitlis ‘Tory spy’ claim
IT is currently embroiled in yet another row over impartiality.
But the BBC’s former political editor has come to the defence of the national broadcaster amid claims its board was infiltrated by an ‘active agent of the Conservative Party’.
Laura Kuenssberg said she was never told ‘what to say’ and was only interested in ‘finding the truth’ while she led the BBC’s political coverage.
Her comments come just days after former Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis accused the broadcaster of caving in too quickly with an apology after government complaints about a monologue she delivered on Dominic Cummings’s notorious lockdown trip to Barnard Castle.
Miss Maitlis, 51, who quit the BBC in February, also made the incendiary claim that board member Sir Robbie Gibb, formerly Theresa’s May’s director of communications, is an ‘active agent of the Conservative Party’.
In a keynote speech at the Edinburgh International Television Festival last week she criticised the BBC’s culture of ‘both-sideism’ that meant she had to give equal weight to both camps when covering issues such as Brexit.
But in an interview with the Sunday Times, Glasgow-born Miss Kuenssberg said the reality of working for the BBC is very different.
Miss Kuenssberg, 46, said: ‘People say, “Well, you can’t do this and you can’t do that, you’re terribly restricted”. For me, that’s totally upside down, because the whole point at the BBC is that you’re not following the line; all you’re doing is trying to find the truth.’
She added: ‘I’ve never been told what to say – or what not to say, maybe more importantly.’
Miss Kuenssberg, who studied at the University of Edinburgh, said she is a constant target for online abuse, including misogynistic and intimidating comments.
She said: ‘There’s no question that social media is laced with poison. I use it a lot less.
‘A journalist at their core shouldn’t be sitting refreshing their screen, they should be on the phone or meeting people or going to find things out. It’s a priority thing. What’s a good use of my time? Is it looking at notifications? No. Turn your notifications off, don’t Google yourself.’
Miss Kuenssberg added: ‘Taking on fair criticism is one thing, giving oxygen or headspace to people who are like playground bullies – I’ve got better things to do.’
Veteran Question Time host David Dimbleby had slammed the monologue by Miss Maitlis as ‘a polemic’ and ‘a mistake’ in an interview with the BBC’s Today programme. He said it should have been phrased as questions, not statements.
‘Social media is laced with poison’