Mark Byford

Mark Julian Byford (born 13 June 1958) was Deputy Director-General of the BBC and head of BBC journalism from 2004 to 2011. He chaired the BBC Journalism Board and was a member of the BBC Executive Board for thirteen years.

His responsibilities also included BBC Sport, the nations and regions (BBC Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and English regions) and editorial policy. He led the BBC-wide coverage of the general elections in 2005 and 2010; the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008; and the BBC coverage of the Queen Mother's Funeral in 2002 and the Royal Wedding in 2011.

Byford established and chaired the BBC's Editorial Standards Board, which was responsible for promoting the BBC's standards in ethics and programme-making across the corporation. He also established and chaired the Complaints Management Board, which oversaw the handling of complaints across the BBC. In addition, he was the chair of the BBC Academy Board co-ordinating all its training and development. He was in overall charge of the BBC's planning for the London 2012 Olympic Games as chair of the London 2012 Steering Group.

Early life

Mark Julian Byford was born on 13 June 1958<ref name=":0">Template:Citation</ref> in Template:Cn span. Template:Cn span where his father, Sir Lawrence Byford,<ref name=":0" /> Template:Cn span Mark was educated at Lincoln School, which later became Lincoln Christ's Hospital Comprehensive School.<ref name="christs-hospital.lincs/alumni">Template:Cite web</ref>

Template:Cn span studying law at the University of Leeds,<ref name=":0" /> Template:Cn-span He graduated in 1979,<ref name=":0" /> aged 20, Template:Cn span

Career with the BBC

In June 2008 the BBC's governing body, the BBC Trust, in a direct criticism of BBC News, instructed Byford and his editors to "improve the range, clarity and precision of its network coverage of the different UK nations and regions". The Trust said the BBC was "falling short of its own high standards" and, in part, failing to meet its core purpose of helping inform democracy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Cn span

He is a fellow of the Radio Academy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was a first board member of the joint industry radio research body, RAJAR, in the early 1990s and was also a board member of BARB, the television audience research body. He was a trustee of the Children in Need charity from 1992 to 1996. In 1999, he established the BBC World Service Trust, the BBC's international development charity, which used media and communications to reduce poverty and promote education and human rights around the world.

In July 2010, it was revealed that Byford had flown on business to the World Cup in South Africa, business class at a cost of £4,878.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This came against a background of further cuts in BBC News, for which Byford was responsible. On 12 October 2010 it was announced Byford was leaving the corporation after thirty-two years and the Deputy Director-General post closed as part of the BBC's cutbacks in senior management costs. He had accepted voluntary redundancy. He stood down from the Executive Board in March 2011 and left the corporation in June 2011.<ref name="Midgley">Neil Midgley "BBC's Mark Byford made redundant", The Daily Telegraph, 11 October 2010</ref> Byford left the Executive Board of the BBC at the end of March 2011, and his BBC employment ended in the early summer after he led the Royal Wedding coverage, reportedly with a redundancy/notice package of between £800,000 and £900,000.<ref name="Midgley"/>

On his retirement The Guardian commented: "If he has a public profile at all it is because Byford came to symbolise the apparent excesses of top executive pay at the corporation. There he was, grey man with a job for life, half a million pounds in salary and, because he had been at the BBC so long without ever leaving, an uncapped two-thirds final salary pension entitlement and no obvious market rate comparator to justify such riches. It was very easy to put the question, as even many lower ranking BBC staff did – who else would pay Mark Byford £500,000 and for what? – knowing there was no very good answer." However, the remainder of that article, written by media commentator Steve Hewlett, suggested that his presence might be missed greatly at the BBC. "He made things happen and by common consent brought a firm moral sense to everything he did, rising above his own particular interests." It went on to highlight how he was a stabilising influence on Director-General Mark Thompson. That opinion appeared highly prophetic in the light of the two major Newsnight scandals – concerning Jimmy Savile and Lord McAlpine respectively – which engulfed the BBC within 18 months of Byford's departure. Both of those incidents led to widespread adverse criticism of high level management of journalism within the BBC and were surrounded by suggestions that the Director-General of the day was not sufficiently informed about issues highly significant for the BBC's reputation.<ref>[1]Template:Dead link</ref>

Later career

He was a lay canon and member of chapter at Winchester Cathedral from 2017 to 2024 (resigning 20 June 2024<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>). Template:Cn span

Personal life

He is married to Hilary Bleiker, Template:Cn span and they have five Template:Cn span children: two sons and three daughters.<ref name=":0" /> Template:Cn span

External links

• Becomes Acting Director-General
• Video message celebrating seventy years of the World Service
• University of Leeds Alumni
• Honorary Fellows | New College