The Matrix Project is an effort to document personal factors that undermine powerful journalists’ claims of objectivity and impartiality. Are factors such as an elite education, establishment connections, personal wealth and interests in rival fields compatible with journalistic integrity? 

This page looks at former Chief Political Correspondent at the BBC Jon Sopel. For more information on the database click here.

Education

Learn about the significance of a private/Oxbridge education here

Jon Sopel attended Christ’s College Finchley, an academy status school with other notable former pupils that include Richard Desmond, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Saatchi and Will Self. Sopel attended a non-Oxbridge University. (Source)

Revolving Door

Learn about the significance of the Revolving Door here.

Sopel has no significant experience outside the field of journalism.

“Establishment” Connections

Learn about the significance of Establishment Connections here

Primary

Jon Sopel’s son, Max, is a Senior Development Producer at ITV Australia.

Secondary

None

Salary/Indications of Wealth

Learn about the significance of journalists with an unusual level of wealth here

Jon Sopel’s final salary before he left the BBC was declared to be £230,000-£234,999 per annum (Source). Sopel recently complained about the BBC disclosure of his salary, stating that “To have everybody suddenly knowing what you earn feels like a violation of your privacy” (Source).

As a point of reference, the Office for National Statistics list the average UK salary for 2021 as £26,193.

Complaints / apologies / controversies

Learn about the significance of complaints/apologies here

Jon Sopel was widely criticised by health charities for delivering a speech to a staff conference for Philip Morris International, one of the largest tobacco firms in the world. It is suggested he was paid a five-figure sum to appear (Source).

Summary

Jon Sopel attended a prestigious Academy school and his son followed him into the media industry by becoming a TV producer (with no nepotistic hands up, we’re sure). Jon Sopel was one of the highest paid journalists at the BBC yet still accepted a lucrative speaking engagement from a controversial cigarette corporation.

Impartial? Independent? Holding the powerful to account?

Learn more about the Matrix Project here.

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