‘We are not the story’: Former Newsnight presenter Kirsty Walk blasts opinionated BBC presenters

Kirsty Wark has spoken out against the rise of opinionated presenters at the BBC, insisting it is not the role of broadcasters to share personal views.

The 70-year-old TV presenter, who stepped down from Newsnight last year after three decades on the programme, said: ‘We are not the story,’ and called for the BBC to remain ‘a trusted friend’ amid ongoing debate over impartiality.

Her remarks, made on The Spectator’s Women With Balls podcast, come in the wake of controversy surrounding Gary Lineker’s political commentary on social media, and wider concerns about personality-led journalism on Radio 4’s Today programme.

The Match of the Day host faced disciplinary action in 2023 after describing the Conservative government’s immigration policy as ‘immeasurably cruel’ and likening the language used to that of 1930s Germany.

The row prompted a review of the BBC’s social media guidelines, with new rules requiring all presenters – not only those in news and current affairs – to observe impartiality.

Wark did not name specific colleagues but questioned the growing trend of presenters bringing personal perspectives into broadcasts.

Kirsty Wark has spoken out against the rise of opinionated presenters at the BBC , insisting it is not the role of broadcasters to share personal views

Wark’s remarks come in the wake of controversy surrounding Lineker’s political commentary on social media. The Match of the Day host faced disciplinary action in 2023 after describing the Conservative government’s immigration policy as ‘immeasurably cruel’ and likening the language used to that of 1930s Germany

Wark’s comments follow similar concerns raised by Mishal Husain, who left Today last year after 11 years on the flagship programme. Speaking to British Vogue, Husain warned against the growing dominance of ego in broadcast journalism. ‘Personality-focused journalism doesn’t have to be bombastic,’ she said

Wark, who joined Newsnight in 1993, also reflected on how the programme changed during her tenure, noting the impact of budget cuts and shifts in editorial tone. ‘It was always a programme of record’, she said

Host Katy Balls asked: ‘One of the debates at the moment – an evergreen one – is how opinionated a presenter should be, particularly on the BBC. There’s been some discussion around the Today programme: does one presenter interrupt too much? Do you think there’s been a shift in how the broadcaster handles these things, or is it just something that resurfaces every few years?’

Wark replied: ‘I think it comes up every few years. We talk about impartiality a lot, but actually what it is, is just straightforward basic journalism – do the journalism, act like a journalist.

‘We get people on sofas and in studios to give their opinion, but unless you’re a BBC editor you don’t really give your opinion. What you do is you make sure you interrogate every angle.’

She added: ‘And I never had any trouble with that. I think that the BBC has got to be a trusted friend, it has to be a trusted friend. It has to be somewhere, at the end of the day, we go and work out, in this incredibly complicated world, what’s going on.

‘Our job is to winkle that information out of other people. Our job is not to give our own opinion to the audience – absolutely not to editorialise.

‘And not to couch everything with “Well, I think…” or “A while ago this happened to me”, or whatever it is.

‘Be more straightforward. It’s not about us. We always should remember that – it’s not about us. We are not the story. The basic rules of journalism.’

Her comments follow similar concerns raised by Mishal Husain, who left Today last year after 11 years on the flagship programme.

Speaking to British Vogue, Husain warned against the growing dominance of ego in broadcast journalism.

‘Personality-focused journalism doesn’t have to be bombastic,’ she said.

‘It doesn’t have to be about the presenters centering themselves. Hopefully, if they’re a personality with journalistic integrity, journalistic values, then they can be a conduit to the news for people.

‘What was true to me was that I would very rarely use the word “I”, actually on air. I would quite often say “We’ve talked to so and so”, because you’re always part of a team.’

Wark, who joined Newsnight in 1993, also reflected on how the programme changed during her tenure, noting the impact of budget cuts and shifts in editorial tone.

‘It was always a programme of record. We would write our own scripts, so you could be slightly more sideways… sometimes satirical, slightly witty, more diggy – and that was right across the political board,’ she said.

‘I loved the freedom Newsnight gave me. It always married culture and politics. I thought it was a very rounded programme. But then things changed.’