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BBC director general resigns over "shoddy journalism"
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Nov 12, 2012, 12:31:00 AM11/12/12
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BBC director general resigns over "shoddy journalism"
By Michael Holden | Reuters – Sat, Nov 10, 2012...
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Former BBC director general George Entwistle speaks to the members of
the media after appearing before a Culture and Media Committee hearing
at Parliament in London October 23, 2012. REUTERS/Andrew Winning
Enlarge Photo.
Reuters/Reuters - Former BBC director general George Entwistle speaks
to the members of the media after appearing before a Culture and Media
Committee hearing at Parliament in London October 23, 2012. REUTERS/
Andrew …more
.. .
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LONDON (Reuters) - BBC Director General George Entwistle resigned on
Saturday, just two months into the job, after the state-funded
broadcaster put out a program denounced by the corporation's chairman
as shoddy journalism.
The BBC, reeling from revelations that one of its former stars was a
paedophile, brought further problems on its head when a flagship news
program aired a mistaken allegation that a former senior politician
sexually abused children.
The BBC had already issued a full apology on Friday, but on Saturday
its director general had to admit under questioning from his own
journalists that he had not known in advance about the Newsnight
report, weeks after being accused of being too hands-off over the
previous scandal on the same program.
Accepting Entwistle's resignation, BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten
said: "This is undoubtedly one of the saddest evenings of my public
life.
"At the heart of the BBC is its role as a trusted global news
organization.
"As the editor-in-chief of that organization, George has very
honorably offered us his resignation because of the unacceptable
mistakes -- the unacceptable shoddy journalism -- which has caused us
so much controversy."
Entwistle quit after strong criticism over the Newsnight program.
"I listened to the director general with increasing disbelief," John
Whittingdale, chairman of parliament's powerful media committee, told
Reuters. "The level of failure of management at every level within the
BBC, up to and including the director general, is just extraordinary."
The BBC and its bosses have been under huge pressure since a rival
broadcaster carried charges last month that the late Jimmy Savile, one
of the most recognizable personalities on British television in the
1970s and 80s, was a prolific sex offender.
EXPOSE WITHDRAWN
Suggestions have surfaced of a paedophile ring inside the broadcaster
at the time and a BBC cover-up. To complicate matters for Entwistle,
Newsnight pulled a planned expose of Savile shortly after his death
last year, and the BBC went ahead with tribute shows.
Having been widely criticized for not broadcasting that expose, which
led to its editor stepping aside, Newsnight is now being lambasted for
its November 2 report on sexual abuse at children's care homes in
North Wales during the 1970s.
Steve Messham, a witness, told Newsnight that a senior Conservative
had raped him when he was a child in one of the homes.
Newsnight did not identify the politician, but the name of Alistair
McAlpine, Conservative Party treasurer from 1975 to 1990 during
Margaret Thatcher's premiership, quickly appeared on the Internet and
social media sites.
On Friday, McAlpine went public to rigorously deny the allegations and
threaten legal action.
Hours later, Messham said he had misidentified McAlpine to Newsnight.
The program admitted it had not approached McAlpine for a comment, or
shown Messham a picture of McAlpine, before airing the report.
Castigated for what he agreed was a slow response to the Savile
disclosures, Entwistle demanded a report on the incident by Sunday and
suspended all Newsnight investigations.
The erroneous Newsnight report had been cleared by senior managers and
lawyers, and commentators queried why Entwistle had been kept in the
dark in the wake of the furore over Savile.
(Editing by Stephen Powell)
BBC director general resigns over "shoddy journalism"
By Michael Holden | Reuters – Sat, Nov 10, 2012...
.
..
.
.
.
Former BBC director general George Entwistle speaks to the members of
the media after appearing before a Culture and Media Committee hearing
at Parliament in London October 23, 2012. REUTERS/Andrew Winning
Enlarge Photo.
Reuters/Reuters - Former BBC director general George Entwistle speaks
to the members of the media after appearing before a Culture and Media
Committee hearing at Parliament in London October 23, 2012. REUTERS/
Andrew …more
.. .
.
.
LONDON (Reuters) - BBC Director General George Entwistle resigned on
Saturday, just two months into the job, after the state-funded
broadcaster put out a program denounced by the corporation's chairman
as shoddy journalism.
The BBC, reeling from revelations that one of its former stars was a
paedophile, brought further problems on its head when a flagship news
program aired a mistaken allegation that a former senior politician
sexually abused children.
The BBC had already issued a full apology on Friday, but on Saturday
its director general had to admit under questioning from his own
journalists that he had not known in advance about the Newsnight
report, weeks after being accused of being too hands-off over the
previous scandal on the same program.
Accepting Entwistle's resignation, BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten
said: "This is undoubtedly one of the saddest evenings of my public
life.
"At the heart of the BBC is its role as a trusted global news
organization.
"As the editor-in-chief of that organization, George has very
honorably offered us his resignation because of the unacceptable
mistakes -- the unacceptable shoddy journalism -- which has caused us
so much controversy."
Entwistle quit after strong criticism over the Newsnight program.
"I listened to the director general with increasing disbelief," John
Whittingdale, chairman of parliament's powerful media committee, told
Reuters. "The level of failure of management at every level within the
BBC, up to and including the director general, is just extraordinary."
The BBC and its bosses have been under huge pressure since a rival
broadcaster carried charges last month that the late Jimmy Savile, one
of the most recognizable personalities on British television in the
1970s and 80s, was a prolific sex offender.
EXPOSE WITHDRAWN
Suggestions have surfaced of a paedophile ring inside the broadcaster
at the time and a BBC cover-up. To complicate matters for Entwistle,
Newsnight pulled a planned expose of Savile shortly after his death
last year, and the BBC went ahead with tribute shows.
Having been widely criticized for not broadcasting that expose, which
led to its editor stepping aside, Newsnight is now being lambasted for
its November 2 report on sexual abuse at children's care homes in
North Wales during the 1970s.
Steve Messham, a witness, told Newsnight that a senior Conservative
had raped him when he was a child in one of the homes.
Newsnight did not identify the politician, but the name of Alistair
McAlpine, Conservative Party treasurer from 1975 to 1990 during
Margaret Thatcher's premiership, quickly appeared on the Internet and
social media sites.
On Friday, McAlpine went public to rigorously deny the allegations and
threaten legal action.
Hours later, Messham said he had misidentified McAlpine to Newsnight.
The program admitted it had not approached McAlpine for a comment, or
shown Messham a picture of McAlpine, before airing the report.
Castigated for what he agreed was a slow response to the Savile
disclosures, Entwistle demanded a report on the incident by Sunday and
suspended all Newsnight investigations.
The erroneous Newsnight report had been cleared by senior managers and
lawyers, and commentators queried why Entwistle had been kept in the
dark in the wake of the furore over Savile.
(Editing by Stephen Powell)
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