News

BBC Director of News accepts honorary degree

Published 9 February 2012

The BBC's Director of News Helen Boaden accepted an honorary degree at the University of Brighton's awards ceremony today (9 February).

In her acceptance speech at the Brighton Dome, Helen spoke of the importance of public service and of having news services that the public can trust. She cited the BBC's coverage of unrest in the Middle East, describing the lengths the BBC goes to in order to verify the information it receives.

It was Helen herself who gave journalist Paul Woods the final authorisation to go into Syria undercover this week and report on the attack on Homs by Syrian Government forces. She said: "The last few days have been extremely nerve-wracking".

She explained that the BBC had been barred from entering Syria so they had to be "absolutely forensic in assessing the pictures sent to us from mobile phones and on the internet during key moments of the ongoing crisis".

She described how BBC staff had cross-referenced locations with Google Earth, looked at local weather reports to assess if the conditions matched those on the day pictures were said to have been shot; and examined videos to try to find evidence that would confirm the claimed location or the time – for example, freeze framing footage from inside a car to see the clock on the dashboard.

She said: "Accuracy and impartiality are at the core of the organisation."

Helen defended the BBC's decision to broadcast the Panorama investigation into alleged corruption within FIFA before its vote to decide the hosts of the 2018 World Cup, saying in retrospect it had proven to be the right decision, although she admitted that the Hutton inquiry had shown that the BBC had been too intent on defending its independence and not paid enough attention to checking the accuracy of the original radio report.

She said: "Our guiding principle has to be accuracy, impartiality and independence in the public interest. Even when it is deeply uncomfortable and no one is thanking you for it. In the long term, you earn the public’s trust by sticking to your values."

She advised students to trust their own judgement, be resilient and flexible in the face of economic problems and remember that these problems are not their fault. "The future has not been cancelled," she said.

Helen Boaden receiving her honorary doctorate from Lord Mogg

Helen began her journalistic career as a student reporter on campus radio while studying at the University of Sussex in the 1970s.

Professor Stuart Laing, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Brighton, taught her at the time and introduced her at the graduation ceremony.

He called Helen "a woman of quite exceptional sense of purpose and of great dedication and humanity" and said that, despite her "highly pressured and busy professional life", she was always prepared to help out Brighton students who wanted to follow in her footsteps.

For instance, she had given lectures and advice to students and staff when the University of Brighton in Hastings launched its innovative foundation degree in broadcast media in 2006.

"Helen facilitated many industry contacts and, above all, encouraged and supported the vision of the university to take risks in reaching out to potential students from all walks of life and all levels of educational qualification," said Professor Laing.

He continued: "Helen has an uncompromising personal commitment to ideas of equality, citizenship, excellence and fairness. These values mark all she does."

The musician Nick Cave was also awarded an honorary degree on Thursday 9 and poet and author Michael Rosen will be awarded an honorary degree on Friday 10 February at the ceremonies in the Brighton Dome.

Find out more about our other two honorary graduates.