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 BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire. For more information on the database click here.

Education

Learn about the significance of a private/Oxbridge education here

Victoria Derbyshire attended the independent Bury Grammar School (source)

She attended a non-Oxbridge university

Revolving Door

Learn about the significance of the Revolving Door here

Victoria Derbyshire has no significant experience in rival fields to the media.

“Establishment” Connections

Learn about the significance of Establishment Connections here

Primary

Victoria Derbyshire is married to “top BBC editor Mark Sandell” (source)

Victoria Derbyshire’s brother Mark is a former English first-class cricketer who now runs an e-commerce company in London (source)

Secondary

None

Salary/Indications of Wealth

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

Victoria Derbyshire was paid £240,000-£244,999 by the BBC in tax year 2021-22. As a point of comparison, the average UK salary for 2021, listed by the Office for National Statistics, was £26,193.

Complaints / apologies / Controversies

Learn about the significance of complaints/apologies here

There are no significant complaints/controversies involving Victoria Derbyshire

In Their Own Words

“For the first six months (at the BBC), I hardly said anything, and when I did, I sounded quite posh. Maybe it was my perception of the BBC – well spoken, a lot of Oxbridge graduates, southern, male. I do know there are people who, for example, haven’t been to university and are ashamed to reveal that.”

Victoria Derbyshire

Summary

Victoria Derbyshire was privately educated, is married to another high-profile journalist and earns a salary ten times in excess of the average Briton.

Independent? Impartial? Holding power to account?

Learn more about the Matrix Project here.

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