[7] Duncan Thompson was an accountant from Preston who died when Mark was twelve after suffering from chronic illness and depression.

Although he had originally stated he was not interested in the role of Director-General and would turn down any approach from the BBC, he changed his mind, saying the job was a "one-of-a-kind opportunity".

The decision to appoint Thompson Director-General was made unanimously by the BBC Board of Governors, headed by the then new Chairman Michael Grade (another former chief executive of Channel 4).

[17] In October 2008, Thompson had to cut short a family holiday to return to Britain to deal with the arrival of The Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row.

He stated: "In the BBC I joined 30 years ago there was, in much of current affairs, in terms of people's personal politics, which were quite vocal, a massive bias to the left".

[21] Thompson was criticised by religious groups in relation to the broadcast of Jerry Springer: The Opera, with a private prosecution brought against the BBC for blasphemy.

"[22] A number of commentators have suggested that Thompson has a pro-Israeli editorial stance, particularly since he supported the controversial decision by the BBC not to broadcast the DEC Gaza appeal in January 2009.

[25] During a meeting of the British Parliament's Culture and Media Committee in June 2012, Thompson also issued an apology for not devoting more coverage to the murders of an Israeli settler family in the West Bank, saying the "network got it wrong" – despite the fact that the incident occurred on the same day as the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

[26] Tam Dean Burn wrote in The Herald: "I would argue that this bias has moved on apace since Thompson went to Israel in 2005 and signed a deal with prime minister Ariel Sharon on the BBC's coverage of the conflict.

"[27] In October 2009, Thompson defended the decision by the BBC to invite British National Party leader Nick Griffin to appear on the Question Time programme following criticism by Labour politicians including Home Secretary Alan Johnson and Secretary of State for Wales Peter Hain.

Thompson said: It is a straightforward matter of fact that... the BNP has demonstrated a level of support which would normally lead to an occasional invitation to join the panel on Question Time.

[28]In 2010, Thompson was identified as the highest paid employee of any public sector organisation in the UK, earning between £800,000 and £900,000 per year.

On 2 September 2011, Thompson and several "senior BBC figures" were called upon by the House of Commons to answer questions over the exact nature of the broadcast arrangement.

[39] He was brought on to accelerate the company's digital transition and extend its global reach,[40] and in this role he directs strategy and oversees business operations.

[47] He has said the Times seeks to be a destination and not reliant on the platforms, and hopes to "more reliably turn engagement into a regular revenue stream".

[48] In 2018, he gave a speech at the Open Markets Institute in Washington, D.C., in which he described Facebook's policy of labeling political news as ads as "a threat to democracy".

[47] According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thompson's total compensation in 2019 was $6.1 million, including salary and stock awards.

[51] Under Thompson's leadership, The New York Times became the first news organization in the world to pass the one million digital-only subscription mark.

Discovery CEO David Zaslav shared, "I am confident he is exactly the leader we need to take the helm of CNN at this pivotal time.

"[58] In a 4 February 2024 investigation by The Guardian, some CNN staff blamed their channel's newly appointed director Mark Thompson for what they described as biased reporting of the Israel–Hamas war.

One staffer claimed that this bias was systematic and institutionalized, as many journalists' stories were forced to be cleared by channel's Jerusalem bureau before publication.

[60] The book was favorably reviewed by Andrew Rawnsley, who called it an "important study" that "identifies many culprits for the destructiveness of political debate.

"[60] John Lloyd, writing in the Financial Times, praised the work as reflective and an "intricately but also urgently argued book.

"[61] The Washington Post said the book shows that Thompson "believes devoutly in the importance ... of intelligent and productive public discussion".

[68][69] In September 2021, it was announced that Thompson would co-chair, with Filipino journalist and editor Maria Ressa, the International Fund for Public Interest Media.