The BBC will stage an international conference next year on fake news, in an attempt by director-general Tony Hall to tackle media misinformation that is likely to spiral as video manipulation becomes more prevalent.

Lord Hall said in a Financial Times interview that fake news was “one of the biggest threats facing our democracies”.

Technology companies such as Facebook and Google will be invited to attend the BBC conference, along with academic institutions and other media organisations.

“I want us to get together with newspapers and people who think like us to understand how to tell the fake from the true,” said Lord Hall. “If we think it’s bad now it’s going to get even worse when you can manipulate video images.”

He is planning the conference after a turbulent year for the BBC. From criticism over the salaries paid to top male stars to doubts over the future of free television licences for the over-75s, the public service broadcaster was rarely out of the headlines.

Highs and lows for the corporation

Yet it was also a year of creative success. Lord Hall pointed to the “unbelievable” audience of 19m people who watched the BBC1 hit Bodyguard, as well as other acclaimed series such as Killing Eve, David Attenborough’s Dynasties, and They Shall Not Grow Old, the startling Peter Jackson documentary on the first world war.

“In terms of the risk taking that we do, our backing of talent and big ideas . . . we’re really doing well,” he said.

But off screen, the corporation was criticised by a parliamentary committee in the autumn for “failing to live up to its duty . . . to advance equal opportunity for women”.

The committee investigated the BBC after Carrie Gracie, its former China editor, said she had suffered gender-related pay discrimination.

The BBC has been on the back foot on pay since 2017, when it published a list of its top-earning staff: a roster that was dominated by men.

Since then its median gender pay gap has fallen from 9.3 per cent to 7.6 per cent as more women have been promoted to senior roles.

High-earning stars such as Chris Evans and Eddie Mair have also left the BBC. Lord Hall said he was “sad to see them go” but pointed to the female talent taking big roles, such as Zoe Ball, who replaces Mr Evans on Radio 2.

Funding of TV licences for the over-75s

The fate of free TV licences for the over-75s promises to be a new flashpoint in the next few months, with responsibility for funding the scheme due to pass to the BBC in June 2020 as a condition of its royal charter.

The scheme is currently paid for by the government, and will cost the BBC an estimated £745m by 2021-2022.

Lord Hall said the broadcaster would be forced to close channels and popular services if it absorbs the full cost of the scheme, and recently launched a public consultation to assess views on its new responsibility.

Among the options under consideration are scrapping the scheme, which is likely to cause public anger, and introducing means-testing, so poorer pensioners do not have to pay for TV licences.

“Whatever we do we have to think about what is fair,” said Lord Hall. “That means fairness to pensioners, many of whom are in poverty, and fairness to [other] licence fee payers.” A colour TV licence costs £150.50.

He expressed pride in the BBC’s news output at a time of political division over Brexit and said it had been keen to host a debate recently featuring prime minister Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader.

Although Mrs May raised the possibility of a debate on her Brexit deal, it was ultimately shelved.

“I’m not sure anyone really wanted it to happen but we did,” said Lord Hall. “People said the BBC had a very complex programme format and that it should just be head to head, Corbyn versus May. My view is completely the opposite . . . we should be exploring all the different views.”

The former chief executive of the Royal Opera House also acknowledged recent criticism of BBC presenters who have expressed personal opinions on Twitter.

Andrew Neil, who presents the political show This Week, apologised recently for calling the journalist Carole Cadwalladr a “mad cat woman”, while Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker’s vocal opposition to Brexit has made him a target of Leave campaigners.

“Andrew apologised for that tweet,” said Lord Hall. “There are some people that aren’t part of the [BBC’s] news and current affairs universe where you can afford to take a different view and I would put Gary in that position.”

The future of on-demand streaming

The BBC’s place in a media era increasingly characterised by on-demand streaming and companies such as Netflix is another issue for the broadcaster.

The BBC will put more programming on iPlayer over Christmas but is limited in how much it can make available — and the length of time the programming can be viewed — because of concerns by Ofcom, the UK media regulator, that increased usage could harm the broadcaster’s commercial rivals.

iPlayer “is the way people will consume the BBC in the future”, said Lord Hall. “We need more content there and for longer. This is no longer a catch-up service . . . it’s a destination.”

He confirmed the BBC was in “constructive talks” with ITV on a joint UK streaming service that would pool older and new programming from both broadcasters.

The two organisations already collaborate on BritBox, a subscription service in the US. Will Channel 4 and Channel 5 also participate in the proposed new UK streaming service? “I can only really speak about what we’re doing with ITV,” said Lord Hall.

As he prepares for 2019, the BBC director-general does not expect negative headlines on the broadcaster to cease.

“One of the things you put up with if you’re taking £150.50 from most people is that you’re in the public eye,” he said. “Our job is to accept that and not be pompous and arrogant but remind people just what they get for that fee.”