Source : The Guardian

Sir Gerald Kaufman has said the BBC board of governors is made up of "amateurs".

Sir Gerald, chairman of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said the corporation's system of BBC governance was in need of reform.

The governors' role as champions and regulators of the corporation has been described as unworkable by the likes of former director general Greg Dyke.

Governors were criticised during the row over the Iraq dossier for being too quick to support management in their row with No 10.

Sir Gerald told the committee on BBC charter renewal: "It's a problem, it's a difficult problem. But it's a problem that needs to be resolved."

He asked: "Is it really appropriate that in this day and age, that the BBC should be governed by people with no experience of broadcasting?"

He said the governors were largely there because of "tokenism, be it ethnic, sexual, class or territorial tokenism.

"As long as the board of governors is made up of amateurs, who can be railroaded by the chairman when it comes to the crunch, as long as we've got that schizophrenia, the problem remains." 

© The Guardian