This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20509003

The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
BBC chairman Lord Patten faces MPs over Entwistle saga Lord Patten says BBC must not 'abandon journalism'
(35 minutes later)
The chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten, is facing MPs about the decision to give a £450,000 pay-off to former director general, George Entwistle. The chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten, has told MPs the BBC must not "abandon or resign from investigative journalism" because of the mistakes made by Newsnight.
Mr Entwistle resigned earlier this month - after just 54 days in the job - following a row over Newsnight. Director general George Entwistle resigned earlier this month after a row involving the programme.
A report by the programme led to Thatcher-era Tory Lord McAlpine being wrongly accused of child abuse. A Newsnight report had led to Thatcher-era Tory Lord McAlpine being wrongly accused of child abuse.
Lord Patten is appearing before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee. Newsnight had earlier shelved an investigation into Jimmy Savile.
Lord Patten, appearing before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said there was a need for a "belt and braces" approach to make sure such "shoddy journalism" was not repeated.
But he added: "The BBC must not abandon or resign from investigative journalism. It's important that your journalistic standards are even higher for investigative journalism."
The acting director general, Tim Davie, told the committee the BBC was not "falling apart" but said staff obviously had concerns and were "aghast at the failings" in the second Newsnight programme.
He said: "It was a bad editorial mistake and there will be consequences".
Lord Patten said the BBC and its licence fee-payers would have to "bear the costs" of the Pollard Review, which he is expected to be completed by Christmas, which is examining the shelved report into allegations of child abuse by Jimmy Savile.
Lord Patten is also expected to be asked about the decision to give a £450,000 pay-off to Mr Entwistle, who had been in the job for just 54 days.
On Monday, he defended Mr Entwistle's reputation - saying he had been unfairly "trashed" - and hinted he himself would seek a second term as chairman of the BBC Trust.
Last week Tony Hall, a former BBC news executive who spent the last decade running the Royal Opera House, agreed to become the next director general early next year.
'Lack of curiosity'
The BBC has been mired in controversy since October - on 2 October, Newsnight editor Peter Rippon blogged about why an investigation into sex abuse allegations involving former BBC DJ and television presenter Savile had been shelved in December 2011.
The following day ITV aired a documentary which included serious allegations about the presenter, who died in October 2011.
This led to a stream of allegations about Savile's behaviour during the 1970s, 80s and 90s, when he was a household name in Britain as the presenter of Jim'll Fix It.
On 12 October, Mr Entwistle announced two inquiries regarding the sex abuse claims.
The first, headed by former Head of Sky News, Nick Pollard, was to look into why Newsnight dropped the Savile investigation and the second, led by former High Court judge Dame Janet Smith, was to examine the culture of the BBC during the years Savile worked there.
A third review was later announced, looking at wider allegations of sexual harassment at the corporation.
On 23 October Mr Entwistle told the Culture, Media and Sport committee that the Newsnight investigation should not have been dropped.
He was accused of a "lack of curiosity" after explaining why he did not ask director of BBC News Helen Boaden for further details on the Savile story when she mentioned it to him in 2011.
On 10 November, in an interview with the Today programme's John Humphrys, Mr Entwistle said he had not seen the Newsnight report - which did not name Lord McAlpine but led to him being mistakenly implicated in child abuse at north Wales care homes, until after it had been broadcast.
He also said that he had not seen tweets prior to the Newsnight report which flagged up its content, nor a front page newspaper article on Friday which said the story was based on mistaken identity.