BBC chief Tony Hall resigns amid mounting challenges

LONDON (Reuters) – BBC Director-General Tony Hall announced on Monday that he will resign from the helm of British broadcaster in six months’ time after seven years.

Hall said he was stopping so a new leader can oversee a mid-term review of the BBC’s funding in 2022, and a renewal of the governance charter, due in 2027.

The announcement comes as the publicly funded BBC faces intense political and public pressure amid a rapidly changing media landscape and viewing habits. It has been criticized by both sides of the Brexit debate over coverage of the UK’s impending departure from the European Union, and some in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government have suggested changing the BBC’s funding model.

The broadcaster is currently largely funded by a fee of £154 a year ($200 a year) paid by every household with a television. It is not controlled by the state, although the government sets the terms of the broadcaster’s charter, which is renewed once every decade.

In a warning to the organization’s critics, Hall said that “in an age of fake news, we remain the gold standard of impartiality and truth.

“What the BBC is and what it stands for is precious to this country,” Hall said. “We ignore that at our peril.”

The Associated Press