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| Pollard inquiry exposes infighting and finger-pointing at BBC | Pollard inquiry exposes infighting and finger-pointing at BBC |
| (7 months later) | |
| There was a telling moment during the press conference last December, minutes after Nick Pollard had finished presenting his critical review of the failure of Newsnight to broadcast its Jimmy Savile investigation. | There was a telling moment during the press conference last December, minutes after Nick Pollard had finished presenting his critical review of the failure of Newsnight to broadcast its Jimmy Savile investigation. |
| Lord Patten, the BBC Trust chairman, was asked if the transcripts of the evidence to the Pollard inquiry would be published in full. His answer was not quite straightforward enough for the reporter, who repeated his question. | Lord Patten, the BBC Trust chairman, was asked if the transcripts of the evidence to the Pollard inquiry would be published in full. His answer was not quite straightforward enough for the reporter, who repeated his question. |
| Patten betrayed unusual tetchiness when replying, this time unequivocally, to say it would be done. It is true that he had previously made the same promise to MPs, but it is fair now – in the light of what emerged from the Pollard inquiry transcripts on Friday – to wonder if he was hoping to avoid the embarrassment of further revelations about the BBC's botched handling of the Savile affair. | Patten betrayed unusual tetchiness when replying, this time unequivocally, to say it would be done. It is true that he had previously made the same promise to MPs, but it is fair now – in the light of what emerged from the Pollard inquiry transcripts on Friday – to wonder if he was hoping to avoid the embarrassment of further revelations about the BBC's botched handling of the Savile affair. |
| He was surely aware that the required disclosures would leave him red-faced, too. And so, looking at the transcript of his own interview during the Pollard review, it has come to pass. | He was surely aware that the required disclosures would leave him red-faced, too. And so, looking at the transcript of his own interview during the Pollard review, it has come to pass. |
| For, in the transcripts, Patten emerges as someone prepared to dump all over senior BBC managers, including the two former director generals, Mark Thompson and George Entwistle, the man he had described just four months previously as having "the ability to give leadership to a great creative organisation". | For, in the transcripts, Patten emerges as someone prepared to dump all over senior BBC managers, including the two former director generals, Mark Thompson and George Entwistle, the man he had described just four months previously as having "the ability to give leadership to a great creative organisation". |
| In talking of the weak executive team around his choice of director general, Patten said sarcastically that George Entwistle "talked a good game" about reducing the number of senior managers. Though he was "saying all the right things" about reforming management in the first 11 days of his 54-day reign, Patten said things began to unravel once the Savile scandal erupted. | In talking of the weak executive team around his choice of director general, Patten said sarcastically that George Entwistle "talked a good game" about reducing the number of senior managers. Though he was "saying all the right things" about reforming management in the first 11 days of his 54-day reign, Patten said things began to unravel once the Savile scandal erupted. |
| He also lashed into the BBC's corporate PR team, calling it "chaotic". But he hadn't finished. He then spread his criticism still further across the corporation's staff by saying of the BBC's investigative journalists that they had "qualities which mean that their strike rate of accuracy is not as great as one might like". | He also lashed into the BBC's corporate PR team, calling it "chaotic". But he hadn't finished. He then spread his criticism still further across the corporation's staff by saying of the BBC's investigative journalists that they had "qualities which mean that their strike rate of accuracy is not as great as one might like". |
| Asked by Pollard if the absence of a deputy director general had hampered the BBC's handling of the Savile crisis, Patten replied: "I don't think that the BBC needs more senior people in order to avoid making basic mistakes. I mean, in this case, you have a director general, a head of news … somebody responsible for current affairs and an experienced editor … things still get horribly screwed up." | Asked by Pollard if the absence of a deputy director general had hampered the BBC's handling of the Savile crisis, Patten replied: "I don't think that the BBC needs more senior people in order to avoid making basic mistakes. I mean, in this case, you have a director general, a head of news … somebody responsible for current affairs and an experienced editor … things still get horribly screwed up." |
| Echoing Patten, senior BBC staff also appear to have gone in for some buck-passing. Most notably, Helen Boaden, the soon to be ex-BBC News director, was scathing about the Newsnight team, regarding them as forming "an old colonial power". | Echoing Patten, senior BBC staff also appear to have gone in for some buck-passing. Most notably, Helen Boaden, the soon to be ex-BBC News director, was scathing about the Newsnight team, regarding them as forming "an old colonial power". |
| She cast the failure of Newsnight to screen the Savile investigation in terms of differences of opinion between the programme's editor, Peter Rippon, and the producer of the story, Meirion Jones. | She cast the failure of Newsnight to screen the Savile investigation in terms of differences of opinion between the programme's editor, Peter Rippon, and the producer of the story, Meirion Jones. |
| Pollard referred to an email she later sent about this clash between the two, saying: "It paints a pretty terrible picture of what was going on in your empire, shall we say?" | Pollard referred to an email she later sent about this clash between the two, saying: "It paints a pretty terrible picture of what was going on in your empire, shall we say?" |
| Boaden admitted: "It does." And then she referred to her email, which said: "It seems to me this basically comes down to two boys fighting for control of a complex and complicated story." | Boaden admitted: "It does." And then she referred to her email, which said: "It seems to me this basically comes down to two boys fighting for control of a complex and complicated story." |
| Though much of the initial attention has been paid to the fact that much of Pollard's interview with Newsnight's presenter, Jeremy Paxman, was redacted, it is interesting to note that he thought Jones to be "reliable". | Though much of the initial attention has been paid to the fact that much of Pollard's interview with Newsnight's presenter, Jeremy Paxman, was redacted, it is interesting to note that he thought Jones to be "reliable". |
| Doubtless some BBC hands would rather than had been redacted too. All that said, it is impossible to imagine any other media company ever washing such dirty linen in public. Truly, the BBC is a remarkable organisation. | Doubtless some BBC hands would rather than had been redacted too. All that said, it is impossible to imagine any other media company ever washing such dirty linen in public. Truly, the BBC is a remarkable organisation. |
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