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| Turmoil Spreads at BBC as Two More Executives Step Aside | Turmoil Spreads at BBC as Two More Executives Step Aside |
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| LONDON — The crisis over the BBC’s reporting of a decades-old sexual abuse scandal deepened on Monday as two more senior executives withdrew temporarily from their jobs following the resignation of the corporation’s director general in what the chairman of its supervisory trust called a “ghastly mess.” | |
| The BBC’s Web site said its director of news, Helen Boaden, and her deputy, Stephen Mitchell, had “stepped aside,” apparently in advance of an internal report into why a flagship current affairs program, “Newsnight,” wrongly implicated a former Conservative Party politician, Alistair McAlpine, in accusations of sexual abuse at a children’s home in North Wales in the 1970s and 1980s. | |
| A separate internal inquiry is investigating an earlier incident one year ago when “Newsnight” canceled a program concerning allegations of sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile, a longtime BBC television host who died last year at age 84. | |
| In a statement, the BBC said it wanted “to make it absolutely clear that neither Helen Boaden nor Stephen Mitchell had anything at all to do with the failed “Newsnight” investigation into Lord McAlpine.” | |
| “Whilst recognizing this, the BBC also believes there is a lack of clarity in the lines of command and control in BBC News” because of the separate inquiry into the cancellation of program investigating Savile a year ago, which is being conducted by Nick Pollard, a former head of the rival Sky News. | |
| “In the circumstances Helen and Stephen will be stepping aside from their normal roles until the Pollard review reports and they expect to then return to their positions,” the BBC said, promising a public statement later into the botched reporting about Lord McAlpine, a former treasurer of the Conservative Party in the Thatcher era. | |
| The BBC said its head of news gathering, Fran Unsworth, and Ceri Thomas, the editor of the “Today” current affairs radio program, are to fill in for the executives who stepped aside. | |
| Lord Patten, the chairman of the supervisory BBC Trust said on Sunday that the broadcasting organization was in a “ghastly mess” as a result of its bungled coverage of the sexual abuse scandal and was in need of a fundamental shake-up. | Lord Patten, the chairman of the supervisory BBC Trust said on Sunday that the broadcasting organization was in a “ghastly mess” as a result of its bungled coverage of the sexual abuse scandal and was in need of a fundamental shake-up. |
| “Does the BBC need a thorough structural overhaul? Of course it does,” Lord Patten said on “The Andrew Marr Show,” the BBC’s main Sunday morning talk show, following the resignation of George Entwistle, the director general on Saturday night. . | “Does the BBC need a thorough structural overhaul? Of course it does,” Lord Patten said on “The Andrew Marr Show,” the BBC’s main Sunday morning talk show, following the resignation of George Entwistle, the director general on Saturday night. . |
| But although Mr. Patten has said that the BBC’s handling of the scandal was marked by “unacceptably shoddy journalism,” he pushed back on the Marr show against suggestions that the crisis could lead to a dismantling of the BBC as it now exists, with 23,000 employees, a $6 billion annual budget and a dominant role in British broadcasting. | But although Mr. Patten has said that the BBC’s handling of the scandal was marked by “unacceptably shoddy journalism,” he pushed back on the Marr show against suggestions that the crisis could lead to a dismantling of the BBC as it now exists, with 23,000 employees, a $6 billion annual budget and a dominant role in British broadcasting. |
| Lord Patten, 68, a former Conservative cabinet minister who gained a reputation for feisty independence when he was Britain’s last colonial governor in Hong Kong, said critics of the BBC should not lose sight of its reputation at home and abroad for trustworthy journalism. | Lord Patten, 68, a former Conservative cabinet minister who gained a reputation for feisty independence when he was Britain’s last colonial governor in Hong Kong, said critics of the BBC should not lose sight of its reputation at home and abroad for trustworthy journalism. |
| “The BBC is and has been hugely respected around the world,” he said. “But we have to earn that. If the BBC loses that, then it is over.” | “The BBC is and has been hugely respected around the world,” he said. “But we have to earn that. If the BBC loses that, then it is over.” |
| Public confidence in the broadcaster, already battered by the Savile affair, has slumped further in opinion polls in the wake of its coverage of the latest scandal. But the British public would not support breaking up the BBC, Lord Patten said, adding, “The BBC is one of the things that has come to define and reflect Britishness, and we shouldn’t lose that.” | |
| Barely 12 hours earlier, Lord Patten stood outside the BBC’s new billion-dollar London headquarters with the departing director general as Mr. Entwistle announced his resignation, after only eight weeks in the post, to atone for his failings in dealing with what he called “the exceptional events of the past few weeks.” | Barely 12 hours earlier, Lord Patten stood outside the BBC’s new billion-dollar London headquarters with the departing director general as Mr. Entwistle announced his resignation, after only eight weeks in the post, to atone for his failings in dealing with what he called “the exceptional events of the past few weeks.” |
| Responding to reports that the “Newsnight” segment was broadcast without some basic fact-checking that would have exonerated Lord McAlpine, 70, Mr. Entwistle said it reflected “unacceptable journalistic standards” and never should have been broadcast. | |
| On Monday, British lawmakers, politicians and newspapers focused on a decision by the BBC Trust to authorize a settlement payment to Mr. Entwistle equivalent to one year’s salary of around $750,000. The BBC justified the payment – double its contractual obligation of six months’ pay – by saying Mr. Entwistle would continue to help various inquiries into the scandals at the BBC that began with the sexual abuse affair involving Mr. Savile. | |
| John Whittingdale, the head of a parliamentary panel scrutinizing the British media, said, “A lot of people will be very surprised that somebody who was in the job for such a short period of time and then had to leave in these circumstances should be walking away with 450,000 pounds of license fee payers’ money.” | John Whittingdale, the head of a parliamentary panel scrutinizing the British media, said, “A lot of people will be very surprised that somebody who was in the job for such a short period of time and then had to leave in these circumstances should be walking away with 450,000 pounds of license fee payers’ money.” |
| The license fee is a compulsory tax levied on television set owners. | The license fee is a compulsory tax levied on television set owners. |
| "Certainly I would want to know from the trust why they think that’s appropriate. I find it very difficult to see a justification for that amount of money to be paid to somebody who has had to resign in these circumstances,” Mr. Whittingdale said. “I wouldn’t have thought that just because you have to help an inquiry into the Savile allegations you necessarily need to be paid a such a large amount of money.” | "Certainly I would want to know from the trust why they think that’s appropriate. I find it very difficult to see a justification for that amount of money to be paid to somebody who has had to resign in these circumstances,” Mr. Whittingdale said. “I wouldn’t have thought that just because you have to help an inquiry into the Savile allegations you necessarily need to be paid a such a large amount of money.” |
| Harriet Harman, a lawmaker from the opposition Labour Party, said the settlement was “not justifiable.” | Harriet Harman, a lawmaker from the opposition Labour Party, said the settlement was “not justifiable.” |
| “It looks like a reward for failure,” she said, adding: “This is not the way to restore public confidence in the BBC.” | “It looks like a reward for failure,” she said, adding: “This is not the way to restore public confidence in the BBC.” |
| Lord McAlpine’s lawyers have said the “Newsnight” accusations would be the subject of a defamation lawsuit, compounding the problems facing the network since accusation last month against Mr. Savile, who was suspected of having sexually abused as many as 300 young people over decades in the BBC’s studios and in children’s homes and hospitals where he gained ready access as a campaigner for children’s charities. | |
| The BBC has been accused of covering up the Savile matter by canceling a “Newsnight” report on the accusations against him last December and going ahead with several Christmas specials that paid tribute to Mr. Savile. | The BBC has been accused of covering up the Savile matter by canceling a “Newsnight” report on the accusations against him last December and going ahead with several Christmas specials that paid tribute to Mr. Savile. |
| The producer of “Newsnight” told his staff members that the Savile investigation was not adequately substantiated by their reporting, but at least one “Newsnight” staff member noted that the producer said that he had come under pressure on the issue from BBC managers. At that time, Mr. Entwistle was in charge of all the BBC’s television productions and was seeking to succeed Mark Thompson, who stepped down in September after eight years as director general. Mr. Entwistle has said that he was not informed beforehand of the nature of the “Newsnight” investigation or the reasons for its cancellation. | The producer of “Newsnight” told his staff members that the Savile investigation was not adequately substantiated by their reporting, but at least one “Newsnight” staff member noted that the producer said that he had come under pressure on the issue from BBC managers. At that time, Mr. Entwistle was in charge of all the BBC’s television productions and was seeking to succeed Mark Thompson, who stepped down in September after eight years as director general. Mr. Entwistle has said that he was not informed beforehand of the nature of the “Newsnight” investigation or the reasons for its cancellation. |
| On Monday, Mr. Thompson will begin his new post as president and chief executive of The New York Times Company. He has said he knew nothing beforehand about the “Newsnight” investigation of Mr. Savile or the decision to scrap it — not even that it involved allegations of pedophilia — and that he had never met Mr. Savile. But Mr. Thompson has said that he is willing to answer any questions put to him by a parliamentary inquiry or a raft of other investigations now under way. | On Monday, Mr. Thompson will begin his new post as president and chief executive of The New York Times Company. He has said he knew nothing beforehand about the “Newsnight” investigation of Mr. Savile or the decision to scrap it — not even that it involved allegations of pedophilia — and that he had never met Mr. Savile. But Mr. Thompson has said that he is willing to answer any questions put to him by a parliamentary inquiry or a raft of other investigations now under way. |
| Lord Patten said Sunday that he expected a new director to be appointed within weeks. On Saturday, he announced that Tim Davie, 45, an executive with a background in marketing who is director of the BBC’s radio operations, would serve as the acting director general. | Lord Patten said Sunday that he expected a new director to be appointed within weeks. On Saturday, he announced that Tim Davie, 45, an executive with a background in marketing who is director of the BBC’s radio operations, would serve as the acting director general. |
| But British commentators say that finding a new chief executive is only part of the wider crisis confronting the BBC in the wake of the departure of Mr. Entwistle, 50. They are also asking whether Britain needs such a huge public-service broadcaster in an age of expanding media choices, and whether the BBC should retain the advantages granted to it under its royal charter and continue to be financed by the mandatory $230-a-year license fee for owners of television sets. | But British commentators say that finding a new chief executive is only part of the wider crisis confronting the BBC in the wake of the departure of Mr. Entwistle, 50. They are also asking whether Britain needs such a huge public-service broadcaster in an age of expanding media choices, and whether the BBC should retain the advantages granted to it under its royal charter and continue to be financed by the mandatory $230-a-year license fee for owners of television sets. |
| Effectively, these questions are already being asked as part of a long-running governmental review of the BBC’s role that was under way before the current crisis. The BBC’s harshest detractors have pressed for a radical downscaling of the broadcaster, and for its return to a narrower range of public-service programing, leaving much that it now does in entertainment, sports, reality TV and other fields to its commercial competitors. | Effectively, these questions are already being asked as part of a long-running governmental review of the BBC’s role that was under way before the current crisis. The BBC’s harshest detractors have pressed for a radical downscaling of the broadcaster, and for its return to a narrower range of public-service programing, leaving much that it now does in entertainment, sports, reality TV and other fields to its commercial competitors. |
| More immediately, the BBC has to deal with a rebellious mood in its own ranks. Over the past couple of days, many of the BBC’s top journalists and presenters have unleashed angry outbursts against the broadcaster’s management, mainly directed at Mr. Entwistle and Mr. Thompson for what the employees have called a pattern of failed leadership. A persistent complaint has been that reforms initiated in the 1990s have created a vast hierarchy of overpaid managers who were insulated from programming decisions. | More immediately, the BBC has to deal with a rebellious mood in its own ranks. Over the past couple of days, many of the BBC’s top journalists and presenters have unleashed angry outbursts against the broadcaster’s management, mainly directed at Mr. Entwistle and Mr. Thompson for what the employees have called a pattern of failed leadership. A persistent complaint has been that reforms initiated in the 1990s have created a vast hierarchy of overpaid managers who were insulated from programming decisions. |
| It was a critique Lord Patten endorsed in his remarks on the Marr show, saying at one point that “there are more senior leaders in the BBC than in the Chinese Communist Party.” Jonathan Dimbleby, a well-known presenter, said on the same show that because of the layers of bureaucracy between Mr. Entwistle and the “Newsnight” producers, “George was at the receiving end of nothing, when he should have known everything.” | It was a critique Lord Patten endorsed in his remarks on the Marr show, saying at one point that “there are more senior leaders in the BBC than in the Chinese Communist Party.” Jonathan Dimbleby, a well-known presenter, said on the same show that because of the layers of bureaucracy between Mr. Entwistle and the “Newsnight” producers, “George was at the receiving end of nothing, when he should have known everything.” |