IMO the BBC has been mismanaged for some time. It now has a new Director General, George Entwhistle, who may soon be out.
It all started at the end of last year,
Newsnight, a respected investigative news programme was producing a damning profile of one Jimmy Savile, a disc jockey and "celebrity" known as a philanthropist. It turned out that he was a predatory paedophile. But the Newsnight programme was suppressed by the BBC, who then put out a celebratory programme about Savile, who had recently died.
The content of the
Newsnight was later leaked and the BBC looked stupid. The police are investigated the Savile case and it appears that he may have had hundreds of victims. Eventually, the Newsnight programme received a belated broadcast.
More recently,
Newsnight pursued another child abuse story and accused a Tory politician, Lord McAlpine, of child abuse. This apparently went out without any senior oversight and the BBC now risks being sued by McAlpine.
Now read on
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012...risis-dimbleby Quote:
Dimbleby, presenter of Radio 4's Any Questions, said the latest Newsnight controversy, hot on the heels of the Jimmy Savile scandal, was taking its toll on the BBC. "I fear that the public will feel that the BBC is like a rudderless ship heading towards the rocks and I very much hope that someone seizes the helm quickly."
David Mellor, the former cabinet minister with responsibility for the BBC, said Entwistle came across as "so out of touch it made me think Winnie the Pooh would have been more effective." He added: "An entire field of management has failed here … Entwistle lacks credibility and he should go as soon as possible. I will be amazed if he is still there at the end of the week."...
...Paul Farrelly, a Labour member of the influential culture, media and sport select committee, said: "He is not only totally clueless, but seems divorced from the real world. He seems to lack basic curiosity and there now must be questions as to whether he is strong enough person to have his hand on the tiller."
Tory MP John Whittingdale, who chairs the committee, said there had been "failure of management at every level" at the BBC, while culture secretary Maria Miller said: "The events of the last few days only serve to underline the vital importance of restoring credibility."...
...Insiders say the Newsnight fiasco happened because the BBC had removed senior executives responsible for the programme from their posts while the inquiry into the first Newsnight scandal – why its Jimmy Savile investigation was dropped – was taking place.
They say morale at Newsnight was terrible all week and asked why an outside journalist was entrusted with carrying out an investigation into such a serious allegation as child abuse by a Tory close to Margaret Thatcher.
"This is completely terrible journalism, a terrible blow to the reputation of the programme. The sooner Nick Pollard reports on the Newsnight Jimmy Savile decision the better: they have got to sort this out quickly, get to the bottom of who said what, and be swift and tough. I can't believe everyone on the pay roll will be there in two months' time. This is not the time for sentimentality," said Will Wyatt, the former managing director of BBC Television...
...There is talk that Newsnight may effectively be closed down and rebranded. "It is the end of Newsnight. The programme cannot survive a calamity like this," said one leading BBC presenter.
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I shall be very sorry if
Newsnight is closed down. It's one of the few intelligent programmes on TV. But of course it is hated by politicians of all parties.
This is
Newsnight in operation showing why politicians hate it and why IMO it's valuable (or was).
(Not loaded:
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