Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read this. If you are visiting from Europe, you likely just saw a notice that stopped you before you could see any of our articles. The notice said something like: “We recognize you are attempting to access this website from a country belonging to the European Economic Area, including the EU, which enforces the General Data Protection Regulation, and therefore access cannot be granted at this time.” We know how frustrating that can be. You may have clicked on a link from social media, a search result, or a friend’s email.…

On a gray Edinburgh afternoon, the room at the TV Festival had the taut, expectant hum of a courtroom before a verdict. Matt Brittin, the BBC’s newly installed director-general, knew exactly what he was walking into. The job had been described as a poisoned chalice long before he accepted it, and the months since he took over in May had done nothing to sweeten the drink. A former Google executive and, in an earlier life, an Olympic rower, Brittin suddenly found himself facing an audience of journalists, producers, students and at least one disgruntled political candidate who had recently stood…