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| BBC staff are still afraid to speak out, four years after Jimmy Savile's death | BBC staff are still afraid to speak out, four years after Jimmy Savile's death |
| (7 months later) | |
| In all major sex abuse scandals – from Rotherham to the Catholic church, as well as Jimmy Savile – the perpetrators are aided by a culture of silence. And the most searing indictment in the report into the BBC’s handling of the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal is that this culture of silence continues. | In all major sex abuse scandals – from Rotherham to the Catholic church, as well as Jimmy Savile – the perpetrators are aided by a culture of silence. And the most searing indictment in the report into the BBC’s handling of the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal is that this culture of silence continues. |
| Decades after children who spoke out about abuse by Savile were bustled out of the studio, BBC employees still feel too scared to speak out about their workplace in case they lose their job or fail to get promoted, according to Dame Janet Smith’s draft report. Extraordinarily, the draft report records that one teenager abused on camera was told it was “just Jimmy fooling about”. | Decades after children who spoke out about abuse by Savile were bustled out of the studio, BBC employees still feel too scared to speak out about their workplace in case they lose their job or fail to get promoted, according to Dame Janet Smith’s draft report. Extraordinarily, the draft report records that one teenager abused on camera was told it was “just Jimmy fooling about”. |
| Even after Savile’s death, those who chose to talk to the officially sanctioned review did so in the main if they were allowed to remain anonymous. They spoke of their fear that they would suffer the consequences for doing so. | Even after Savile’s death, those who chose to talk to the officially sanctioned review did so in the main if they were allowed to remain anonymous. They spoke of their fear that they would suffer the consequences for doing so. |
| This is the continuing scandal: nearly four years after Savile died and all those people whose lives he ruined were finally listened to, our state broadcaster, our beloved Auntie, still perpetuates a culture in which people are too afraid to speak out. | This is the continuing scandal: nearly four years after Savile died and all those people whose lives he ruined were finally listened to, our state broadcaster, our beloved Auntie, still perpetuates a culture in which people are too afraid to speak out. |
| In the final lines of her draft summary, Smith suggests that while the abuse suffered in the 70s and 80s by children and young women, some of whom worked at the BBC, had at least led to child protection measures and some equality improvements, potential whistleblowers were even now more worried about losing their jobs. Short-term and freelance contracts meant a workforce “with little or no job security”, which was even less likely to speak out about the behaviour of colleagues. | In the final lines of her draft summary, Smith suggests that while the abuse suffered in the 70s and 80s by children and young women, some of whom worked at the BBC, had at least led to child protection measures and some equality improvements, potential whistleblowers were even now more worried about losing their jobs. Short-term and freelance contracts meant a workforce “with little or no job security”, which was even less likely to speak out about the behaviour of colleagues. |
| “I found that employee witnesses who were about to say something to the review that was even mildly critical of the BBC were extremely anxious to maintain their anonymity,” she wrote. “These people were, and still are, afraid for their positions. Even with modern employment protection, people fear that, even if they do not lose their jobs, their promotion prospects will be blighted if they complain.” | “I found that employee witnesses who were about to say something to the review that was even mildly critical of the BBC were extremely anxious to maintain their anonymity,” she wrote. “These people were, and still are, afraid for their positions. Even with modern employment protection, people fear that, even if they do not lose their jobs, their promotion prospects will be blighted if they complain.” |
| The BBC did commission the Good report into whistleblowing, which was published last summer and promised to learn the lessons of the past. | The BBC did commission the Good report into whistleblowing, which was published last summer and promised to learn the lessons of the past. |
| But then there remains the issue of celebrity. Savile, along with Stuart Hall, Rolf Harris and a string of other famous men, all behaved, and were treated by the BBC, as though they were above the law. | But then there remains the issue of celebrity. Savile, along with Stuart Hall, Rolf Harris and a string of other famous men, all behaved, and were treated by the BBC, as though they were above the law. |
| “A degree of misconduct by members of the talent would be tolerated by, for example, the producer of a programme,” the draft report said. “It was important to keep the star of the show happy. The producers of programmes on which Savile worked did not ask him to stop his habit of wet kissing or licking the hands and arms of staff members to whom he was introduced. I am sure they would not have wished to upset the star of the show.” | “A degree of misconduct by members of the talent would be tolerated by, for example, the producer of a programme,” the draft report said. “It was important to keep the star of the show happy. The producers of programmes on which Savile worked did not ask him to stop his habit of wet kissing or licking the hands and arms of staff members to whom he was introduced. I am sure they would not have wished to upset the star of the show.” |
| If anything the power of celebrity has become even greater in an age in which the media is struggling to earn as much as it once did as the internet fractures old complacencies. Talking about the perceived importance and power of such men, Smith wrote: “Until a complaint is made such people are likely to enjoy the confidence and approval of all those around them.” | If anything the power of celebrity has become even greater in an age in which the media is struggling to earn as much as it once did as the internet fractures old complacencies. Talking about the perceived importance and power of such men, Smith wrote: “Until a complaint is made such people are likely to enjoy the confidence and approval of all those around them.” |
| There might not be any suggestion that today’s onscreen celebrities are engaged in criminal behaviour like Savile’s. But a culture of fear allows all-powerful male stars to get away with behaviour in their workplace that would at the very least be regarded as regrettable. | There might not be any suggestion that today’s onscreen celebrities are engaged in criminal behaviour like Savile’s. But a culture of fear allows all-powerful male stars to get away with behaviour in their workplace that would at the very least be regarded as regrettable. |
| Jeremy Clarkson may be a talented and charismatic TV presenter and producer. Yet the attack on a producer which eventually led to his unseemly departure last year followed a whole series of controversies mainly involving racist and misogynistic comments. | Jeremy Clarkson may be a talented and charismatic TV presenter and producer. Yet the attack on a producer which eventually led to his unseemly departure last year followed a whole series of controversies mainly involving racist and misogynistic comments. |
| The power of celebrity is not just problem for the BBC, and other broadcasters probably face similar issues. But it is the BBC that shielded so many of the abusers who have now made memories of the 1970s so grim. | The power of celebrity is not just problem for the BBC, and other broadcasters probably face similar issues. But it is the BBC that shielded so many of the abusers who have now made memories of the 1970s so grim. |
| The current director general has already talked of wanting to learn from the report and ensure that this sort of abuse never happens again. He can take some comfort from the fact that Smith largely exonerates the BBC for failing to uncover Savile’s sexual deviancy. She also found that reports that the BBC corporately “knew all about Savile” were “inaccurate or unreliable”. | The current director general has already talked of wanting to learn from the report and ensure that this sort of abuse never happens again. He can take some comfort from the fact that Smith largely exonerates the BBC for failing to uncover Savile’s sexual deviancy. She also found that reports that the BBC corporately “knew all about Savile” were “inaccurate or unreliable”. |
| It can only be hoped that, after so many horror stories and so much more awareness of abuse, we will never again as a nation watch a man abuse a child live in the box in our living rooms and think nothing of it. And where once women at the BBC suffered horrific harassment and sexual misconduct at work, Smith says the BBC “has now recognised the need for women to be respected in the workplace”. | It can only be hoped that, after so many horror stories and so much more awareness of abuse, we will never again as a nation watch a man abuse a child live in the box in our living rooms and think nothing of it. And where once women at the BBC suffered horrific harassment and sexual misconduct at work, Smith says the BBC “has now recognised the need for women to be respected in the workplace”. |
| But if a culture of deference to celebrity is allowed to continue unabated, amid rising job insecurity, of course there could still be predatory child abusers “lurking undiscovered in the BBC”. To be honest, they could be in any workplace. | But if a culture of deference to celebrity is allowed to continue unabated, amid rising job insecurity, of course there could still be predatory child abusers “lurking undiscovered in the BBC”. To be honest, they could be in any workplace. |