NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Mark Thompson

Mark Thompson (born July 31, 1957) is Director-General of the BBC, a post he has held since 2004, and a former chief executive of Channel 4. Mark Thompson can refer to any of several well-known individuals: Mark Thompson is a British broadcast executive and Director-General of the BBC Mark Thompson (radio) is an American radio personality, best known as half of Mark & Brian Mark Thompson (footballer) is an Australian rules football player and coach... is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... The Director-General is chief executive and editor-in-chief of the BBC. The position is appointed by Board of Governors of the BBC. Sir John Reith (1927-1938) Sir Frederick Ogilvie (1938-1942) Sir Cecil Graves and Robert W. Foot (joint Director-Generals, 1942-1943) Robert W. Foot (1942... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Chief Executive redirects here. ... This article is about the British television station. ...

Early life

Born in Stepney and brought up in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, by his Irish Catholic mother, Sydney Corduff, and father, John Thompson, from Preston (who died when Thompson was 12). He was educated by the Jesuits at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, one of England's leading Catholic public schools, and from there went up to Merton College, Oxford, where he took a first in English. He edited the university magazine Isis. Stepney is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. ... Not to be confused with Welwyn. ... For the similarly named county in the West Midlands region, see Herefordshire. ... Irish Catholics are persons of predominantly Irish descent who adhere to the Roman Catholic faith. ... This article is about Preston, Lancashire. ... The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu), commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order. ... Stonyhurst College is an independent, Roman Catholic school in the Jesuit tradition. ... Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... and of the Merton College College name The House of Scholars of Merton Named after Walter de Merton Established 1264 Sister college Peterhouse, Cambridge Warden Prof. ... This article is about the city of Oxford in England. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The term English literature refers to literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; Joseph Conrad was Polish, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, Salman Rushdie is Indian, V.S... Isis is the longest-running independent student magazine in England, established in 1892 at the University of Oxford. ...

Appointment as Director-General

Thompson was appointed Director-General on May 21, 2004^[1]. He succeeded Greg Dyke, who resigned on January 29 2004 in the aftermath of the Hutton Inquiry. Although he had originally stated he was not interested in the role of Director-General and would turn down any approach from the BBC, he changed his mind, saying the job was a "one-of-a-kind opportunity". The decision to appoint Thompson Director-General was made unanimously by the BBC Board of Governors, headed by the then new Chairman Michael Grade (another former chief executive of Channel 4). His appointment was widely praised: Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, Shadow Culture Secretary Julie Kirkbride and Greg Dyke were amongst those who supported his selection. He took up the role of Director-General on June 22 2004^[1] (Mark Byford had been Acting Director-General since Dyke's resignation). On his first day he announced several management changes, including the replacement of the BBC's sixteen-person executive committee with a slimmed-down executive board of nine top managers. His salary for the year 2004/2005 (as disclosed by the BBC) was £453,000, not including a bonus which he waived for this period. is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a journalist and broadcaster. ... is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Hutton Inquiry was a British judicial inquiry chaired by Lord Hutton, appointed by the British government to investigate the death of a government weapons expert, Dr. David Kelly. ... The Board of Governors of the BBC is a group of twelve people who together regulate the BBC and represent the interests of the public, in particular those of viewers and listeners. ... Michael Ian Grade CBE (born March 8, 1943) is a British businessman and a distinguished figure in the field of broadcasting. ... The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport is a UK cabinet position with responsibility for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. ... Tessa Jowell (born September 17, 1947 in London) is a British politician who is Labour MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Minister for the Olympics, following the selection of London to host the 2012 Olympic Games. ... Julie Kirkbride (born 5 June 1960, Halifax) is an English politician. ... Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a journalist and broadcaster. ... is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Mark Byford (born June 13, 1958) is Deputy Director General of the BBC and head of all its journalism. ...

Editorial guideline breaches

In 2007 it emerged that the BBC had been involved in a number of editorial guideline breaches. Mark Thompson, as BBC editor-in-chief investigated these breaches, and presented his interim report to the BBC Trust on 18 July 2007^[2]. The Trust felt that the BBC’s values of accuracy and honesty had been compromised, and Thompson outlined to the Trust the actions he would take to restore confidence. The BBC Trust logo The BBC Trust is a body that oversees the BBC, being independent of BBC management and external bodies. ...

Later that day he told BBC staff, via an internal televised message^[3], that deception of the public was never acceptable. He said that he, himself, had never deceived the public - it would never have occurred to him to do so, and that he was sure that the same applied to the "overwhelming majority" of BBC staff. He also spoke on BBC News 24^[4] and was interviewed by Gavin Esler for Newsnight. He stated that "from now on, if it [deceiving the public] happens we will show people the door."^[5] Staff were emailed on 19 July 2007^[6] and later in the year all staff, including the Director-General undertook an honesty training course^[7]. BBC News 24 is the BBCs 24 hour rolling news television channel in the United Kingdom. ... Gavin Esler (born Glasgow, February 27, 1953) is a BBC television presenter. ... Newsnight is a British daily news analysis, current affairs and politics programme broadcast between 22:40 and 23:20 on weekdays on BBC Two. ...

Controversy

In late 2007, Thompson's directorship at the BBC was criticised. Sir Richard Eyre, former artistic director of the National Theatre, accused the BBC under Thompson's leadership of failing to produce programmes 'that inspired viewers to visit galleries, museums or theatres'.^[8] He was also criticised by Tony Palmer, a multi-award winning film-maker. Of the BBC, Palmer stated that '[it] has a worldwide reputation which it has abrogated and that's shameful. In the end, the buck stops with Mark Thompson. He is a catastrophe.'^[9] It should be noted that Palmer at the same time praised other BBC departments. Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Sir Richard Eyre CBE (born 28 March 1943) is a British film and theatre director. ... Several countries have a National Theatre. ... Tony Palmer is an american football guard who was selected by the St. ...

He was severely criticised in relation to the broadcast of Jerry Springer - The Opera, with a private prosecution brought against the BBC for blasphemy. David Pannick QC appeared and won the case for BBC director-general Mark Thompson. The High Court ruled that the cult musical was not blasphemous, and Pannick stated that: "Judge Tubbs had acted within her powers and made the only decision she could lawfully have made; while religious beliefs were integral to British society, so is freedom of expression, especially to matters of social and moral importance."^[10] This article is about Jerry Springer himself. ... Sydney Opera House: one of the worlds most recognisable opera houses and landmarks. ... David Pannick QC (born 7 March 1956) is a leading barrister in the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ...

Broadcasting career

He first joined the BBC as a production trainee in 1979. His subsequent career within the organisation has been varied, including: For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ...

In April 2000 he became BBC director of television, but left the corporation in March 2002 to become chief executive of Channel 4. Watchdog is a BBC television series that investigates viewers reports of problematic experiences with traders, retailers, and other companies around the UK. It has had great success in changing the awareness consumers have of their purchasing rights and in changing policies of companies, closing businesses down and pushing for law... Breakfast Time was British televisions first national breakfast show, beating ITVs Good Morning Britain to the air by two weeks. ... Newsnight is a British daily news analysis, current affairs and politics programme broadcast between 22:40 and 23:20 on weekdays on BBC Two. ... The Nine OClock News is a BBC news programme which began in 1970 and ended in 2000. ... Panorama is a long-running current affairs documentary series on BBC television, launched on 11 November 1953 and focusing on investigative journalism. ... For the BBC radio station, see BBC Radio 2. ... 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a timeline for events in April, 2000. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for March, 2002. ...

Personal life

He now lives in Oxford with his Jewish American wife Jane Blumberg whom he married in 1987, who has written books on Mary Shelley. They have two sons (born October 1991 and December 1997) and one daughter (born January 1994). He worships at the St Aloysius Gonzaga church on Woodstock Road in Oxford. He is a patron of the Art Room charity in Oxford. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (nÃ©e Godwin) (30 August 1797 â€“ 1 February 1851) was an English romantic/gothic novelist and the author of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. ... Aloysius Gonzaga (9 March 1568â€“21 June 1591) was the oldest son of the Marquis Ferdinand of Castiglione, a prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and Marta Tana Santena, daughter of a baron from Piemonte, of the Della Rovere family. ... Map sources for Woodstock at grid reference SP4416 Woodstock is a small town in Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. ...

References

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 285th day of the year (286th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Image File history File links Portal. ... Red Bee Media Limited is a media company which operates a playout centre in west London in the United Kingdom for television and radio broadcasters such as the BBC, UKTV, Virgin Media Television, ESPN, Community Channel, Setanta Sports News and soon (following an announcement[1] in November 2007) Channel 4. ... // Random House is a publishing house based in New York City. ... Mark Byford (born June 13, 1958) is Deputy Director General of the BBC and head of all its journalism. ... The Director-General is chief executive and editor-in-chief of the BBC. The position is appointed by Board of Governors of the BBC. Sir John Reith (1927-1938) Sir Frederick Ogilvie (1938-1942) Sir Cecil Graves and Robert W. Foot (joint Director-Generals, 1942-1943) Robert W. Foot (1942... Michael Jackson (born 1958) is a British television executive. ... This article is about the British television station. ... Andy Duncan (born July 31, 1962) is the chief executive of Channel 4 television in the United Kingdom. ... Michael Jackson (born 1958) is a British television executive. ... For the BBC radio station, see BBC Radio 2. ... Jane Root (born May 18, 1957) was the controller of BBC Two from 1999 until 2004, when she left to work for Discovery Networks in the United States. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... List of stations Television United Kingdom BBC One (DTT channel 1) BBC Two (DTT channel 2) United Kingdom, digital only (Digital Terrestrial (DTT), Digital Cable and Digital Satellite (Astra 2D)) BBC Three, formerly known as BBC Choice (DTT channel 7) BBC Four, formerly known as BBC Knowledge (DTT channel 10... BBC national radio stations BBC Radio 1 - popular music aimed at a young audience BBC 1Xtra - hip hop, garage, gospel and R&B BBC Radio 2 - adult-orientated popular music BBC Radio 3 - classical, jazz and world music, culture, drama BBC Radio 4 - spoken-word programmes BBC Radio Five Live... The domain name bbc. ... BBCi is the brand name for the BBCs interactive television services. ... iPlayer redirects here. ... BBC East is the BBC English Region that produces local television and radio programming for Norfolk, Suffolk, northern Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, southern Northamptonshire andBuckinghamshire. ... BBC East Midlands is the BBC English Region covering Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, most of Derbyshire and parts of western and southern Lincolnshire. ... BBC London is the brand for the BBCs tri-media radio, television and online service for London and its immediate environs. ... BBC North East and Cumbria is the BBC English Region covering Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Teesside and all but the Southern part of Cumbria. ... BBC North West is the BBC English Region covering Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, the northern parts of Cheshire, the north-western portion of Derbyshire and southern Cumbria. ... BBC Northern Ireland is the main public service broadcaster in Northern Ireland. ... BBC Scotland (BBC Alba in Gaelic) is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. ... BBC Alba is the Gaelic name for Scotlands national television broadcaster, BBC Scotland Television. ... BBC South is the BBC English Region producing local television, radio, web and teletext content for West Sussex, Hampshire, eastern Dorset, western Berkshire, Oxfordshire and the Isle of Wight. ... BBC South East is the BBC English Region producing local television, radio, web and teletext content for Kent and East Sussex. ... BBC South West is the BBC English Region producing local television, radio, web and teletext content for Devon, Cornwall and the Channel Islands. ... BBC Wales (Welsh: ) is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. ... BBC West is the BBC English Region covering the local radio editorial areas of [[Bristol], Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. ... Categories: Station stubs | BBC radio ... BBC Yorkshire is one of the English regions of the BBC. It was formed from the division of the former BBC North region into BBC Yorkshire and BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, based in Hull. ... BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire is the name for the BBCs twelfth English region, created from the division of the former BBC North region, based in Leeds (now known as BBC Yorkshire). ... BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. ... BBC Books is the book publishing division of BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation. ... BBC Magazines is the magazine publishing division of BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation. ... BBC Resources provides BBC Studios and Outside Broadcast facilities based in London UK, along with network Post Production facilities in England (ie excluding the other UK Nations of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales). ... BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It has co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years and is now firmly established at the forefront of UK film-making; producing approximately eight films a year. ... This is a timeline of the history of the British Broadcasting Corporation. ... The British Broadcasting Company Ltd was a British commercial company formed on October 18, 1922 by British and American electrical companies doing business in the United Kingdom. ... The Board of Governors of the BBC is a group of twelve people who together regulate the BBC and represent the interests of the public, in particular those of viewers and listeners. ... Current CBBC Logo CBBC - short for Childrens BBC - is the brand-name for the BBCs childrens television programmes aimed at children aged between 6 and 12 years old. ... The BBC Monitoring divisions logo BBC Monitoring is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation that monitors the mass media worldwide and acts as the British Governments provider of open source intelligence (OSINT). ... The BBC Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of the BBC dedicated to making TV and radio programmes with a natural history or wildlife theme, especially nature documentaries. ... BBC News is the department within the BBC responsible for the corporations news-gathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online. ... BBC Research, formerly the BBC Research Department or BBC Research & Development, made major contributions to broadcast technology, carrying out original research in many areas, and developing items like the Peak programme meter (PPM) which became the basis for many world standards. ... Since the 2005 relaunch, a new glass globe has been the logo for BBC Weather and is shown at the beginning and end of all weather forecasts. ... For other uses, see Broadcasting House (disambiguation). ... The portico of Bush House Bush House is a building between Aldwych and The Strand in London. ... The BBC New Media Village at Night, October 2004 The BBC Media Village was opened in 2004 and is the second phase of development at BBC White City. ... BBC Television Centre (sometimes abbreviated TVC or TC) in London is home to much of the BBCs television output and, since 1998, almost all of the corporations national TV and radio news output by BBC News. ... BBC White City, main entrance BBC White City on a foggy day BBC White City refers both to a collection of BBC buildings at Wood Lane, White City in west London, and an office building within that collection of buildings. ... Pacific Quay is a development in Glasgow, Scotland situated next to the River Clyde at the former Princes Dock Basin. ... In the United Kingdom and the Crown dependencies, a television licence is required to receive any publically broadcast television service, from any source. ... The Broadcasting Receiving Licence of 10 shillings was introduced in November 1922 to cover existing BBC radio broadcasts, as well as television when the BBCs 405-line service commenced in November 1936 , although it closed down in September 1939 at the start of World War II. The Television Licence... The BBC Trust logo The BBC Trust is a body that oversees the BBC, being independent of BBC management and external bodies. ... The Director-General is chief executive and editor-in-chief of the BBC. The position is appointed by Board of Governors of the BBC. Sir John Reith (1927-1938) Sir Frederick Ogilvie (1938-1942) Sir Cecil Graves and Robert W. Foot (joint Director-Generals, 1942-1943) Robert W. Foot (1942... Mark Byford (born June 13, 1958) is Deputy Director General of the BBC and head of all its journalism. ...

Contents

Early life var ACE_AR = {Site: '756743', Size: '300250'};