BBC chairman-designate promises balance

LONDON, April 2 (UPI) -- The incoming chairman of Britain's embattled BBC news group said Friday the organization must serve all of the United Kingdom's public.

Michael Grade, who will take over as BBC chairman on May 17, said in a speech that the corporation would "serve the licence-paying public right across the U.K."

His remarks were seen as a pledge to avoid partisanship in political news.

He also promised to examine and evaluate the role of BBC governors and defend the BBC's quality and independence.

A former BBC Television and Channel 4 boss, he replaces Gavyn Davies, who resigned after the Hutton Report's scathing review of the BBC's coverage of intelligence analyst David Kelly.

Kelly had advised Tony Blair's government on Iraq prior to the war. He later committed suicide after he was named as a secret source for a provocative BBC report by Andrew Gilligan on Kelly's work for Blair's government.

On the subject of the BBC's funding, he said, "I remain committed to the (compulsory) licence fee as the best means of funding the BBC for the foreseeable future."