Jimmy Savile popular British television host investigated in sex abuse cases

[flutter1]

Police Prepare ‘Arrest Strategy’ as BBC Sexual Abuse Case Grows

By JOHN F. BURNS and ALAN COWELL
Published: October 25, 2012

LONDON — The number of people who said they were sexually assaulted by Jimmy Savile, one of Britain’s most popular television hosts, expanded to 300 from 200 in just the last week, and other people may have acted with him, the Scotland Yard officer heading the investigation said Thursday.

Hundreds of people have come forward to accuse him of sexually abusing them.

The officer, Cmdr. Peter Spindler, described Mr. Savile, who died last October at 84, as “undoubtedly” one of the most prolific sex offenders in recent British history, during a 50-year career as a self-styled pied piper for the young, the sick and the lonely. Commander Spindler said that in preliminary telephone interviews with 130 of the potential victims, 114 of them had accused Mr. Savile of criminal behavior ranging from “inappropriate touching” to rape. Of the 300 complainants, he said, all but 2 have been female.

Commander Spindler said the “vast majority” of the accusations logged by the police were against Mr. Savile alone, with the remainder involving Mr. Savile and others or episodes in which the entertainer was not implicated. Although the commander specified that investigators had found no evidence of a “pedophile ring,” as some published accounts in Britain have suggested, he said that a number of “living people” were under investigation.  ::snipping2::

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/world/europe/savile-inquiry-widens-to-others-at-bbc-reports-say.html?hp&_r=0 

[KittyMom]

I read about this this morning.  England's Sandusky only this guy is dead so justice can't be had for his victims.

[Amys Sister]

A number of people are involved and it's not considered a pedophile ring?

They must have money.   

[Amys Sister]

Also from the article:

"Later, an article on the BBC’s news Web site quoted “sources close to Scotland Yard,” whom it did not further identify, as saying the police were looking at some “figures of high standing” who might have helped Mr. Savile. “It is thought investigations are looking at those who may have assisted Savile, helped organize abuse, cover it up or taken part in assaults themselves,” the BBC story said."

"The Guardian story noted that Mr. Savile kept an office and living quarters at the Broadmoor Hospital, a high-security psychiatric treatment center in Berkshire, and a bedroom in the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, in Buckinghamshire, which has one of the largest units in the world that specializes in spinal injuries; both institutions are close to London. The newspaper also said he was given “free rein” at Leeds General Infirmary, in the northern industrial city where he was born and where he found his first job as a boy, working in a mine."

"The BBC reported on Wednesday that Mr. Savile, a bachelor, was investigated but never prosecuted for sexual abuse at least half a dozen times during a television career in which he presented himself as an irrepressibly jaunty figure with a vocation to spread happiness into some of the most vulnerable corners of society."

 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/world/europe/savile-inquiry-widens-to-others-at-bbc-reports-say.html?_r=1&hp

[MuffyBee]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20114378
Jimmy Savile: Gary Glitter arrested over sex offences
October 28, 2012

Former pop star Gary Glitter has been arrested on suspicion of sex offences by police investigating Jimmy Savile abuse claims.

He has been taken from his home into custody at a London police station.

Glitter, 68, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was jailed in Vietnam in 2006 for child sex offences.

Police are investigating allegations the late TV presenter Savile sexually abused some 300 young people over a 40-year period.

Met Police confirmed officers from Operation Yewtree had "arrested a man in his 60s in connection with the investigation".

"The man, from London, was arrested at approximately 0715 on suspicion of sexual offences. The individual falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed 'Savile and others'."

Scotland Yard has said it is following about 400 lines of inquiry as part of the operation - which is looking into claims Savile, who died last year aged 84, abused hundreds of young girls and some boys.

Police described former BBC DJ Savile as a "predatory sex offender".

Karin Ward - a former pupil at Duncroft approved school for girls in Surrey - told the BBC she had once seen singer Glitter having sex with a schoolgirl in Savile's dressing room at the BBC. Glitter has denied the allegations.

'Lessons to learn'
Glitter is the first person to be arrested in connection with the Met's Savile abuse inquiry.
 ::snipping2::
Elsewhere the deputy leader of the Labour Party Harriet Harman has called for a judge-led inquiry into the Savile abuse claims.

She told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "The trouble is that there are a multiplicity of inquiries. What we need is one over-arching inquiry.

"It should be independent because there are big lessons to be learned here, not just for the BBC, although the epicentre of it was at the BBC."

Savile is also alleged to have carried out abuse at a number of institutions, such as the high security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor, Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling told the same programme while what had happened was "horrendous" it was important not to "rush into a judge-led inquiry," arguing it would take "much longer to get to the truth".

The BBC Trust's chairman Lord Patten, writing in the Mail On Sunday, said the corporation must face up to the truth, warning it "risks squandering public trust".

Victim Ms Ward was interviewed for the BBC's Newsnight programme last November in which she made the abuse allegations, but the interview was only shown on Panorama this week as the Newsnight investigation was shelved.

Mr Patten told the paper: "Like many who work for the BBC, I feel a sense of particular remorse that abused women spoke to Newsnight, presumably at great personal pain, yet did not have their stories told as they expected."
 
The BBC has already announced inquiries into the Savile abuse claims. The first, led by former Sky News head Nick Pollard, is examining whether there were any failings in the BBC's management of the Newsnight investigation into Savile abuse claims.

On Monday, former Court of Appeal judge Dame Janet Smith will begin a review into the culture and practices of the corporation during Savile's time at the BBC. A further review will examine sexual harassment policies at the BBC.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/9638683/Jimmy-Savile-investigation-Gary-Glitter-arrested-on-sexual-offences.html
Jimmy Savile investigation: Gary Glitter arrested on 'sexual offences'
Gary Glitter, the former pop star convicted of child sex offences, was arrested this morning by police investigating sexual allegations against Jimmy Savile.
October 28, 2012

The 68 year-old was held by detectives from Operation Yewtree, Scotland Yard’s inquiry into alleged child sexual exploitation by the late Jimmy Savile and others.
 ::snipping2::
In 2009 Savile, who died at age 84 last year, defended Glitter, who has been convicted of downloading child pornography in Britain and abusing children in Vietnam.
Savile said: "If you said to that copper, what's Gary Glitter done wrong? Well nothing really. He's just sat at home watching dodgy films."
Glitter was convicted in Vietnam in March 2006 of "obscene acts" with two girls aged 11 and 12, and returned to London in August 2008 after his release from prison.
 ::snipping2::
The arrest comes after Savile's closest relatives spoke for the first time of their "turmoil" over the scandal and offered their sympathy to his victims.
Roger Foster, a nephew of the late DJ, spoke of the family's horror and initial disbelief over the allegations and hailed the courage of those alleged to have been abused, for speaking out.
When claims were made against Savile in a TV documentary earlier this month, Mr Foster said he was "disgusted and disappointed" by the motives of those making the allegations.
Last night he said the family had endured "a firestorm" of revelations and now offered their deepest sympathy to those who suffered at Savile's hands.
Allegations against Savile include sexual assaults of patients at Broadmoor, where he was initially an "honorary entertainments officer".
The Department of Health is holding an inquiry into how Savile came to be appointed to the task force and into the access he gained to patients in all three hospitals.
Police described former BBC DJ Savile as a "predatory sex offender".

[Toler]

Three doctors 'collaborated in the abuse' by Savile with one 'helping select child patients to rape'
One allegedly 'collaborated' with star at Leeds General Infirmary
Two others worked alongside former DJ at Stoke Mandeville hospital
10/28/'12

Police have been given the names of doctors who are accused of being in league with Jimmy Savile.
 
One doctor allegedly ‘collaborated’ with the BBC star in selecting child patients to rape at Leeds General Infirmary.
 
Two others worked alongside him at Stoke Mandeville, the Buckinghamshire hospital where nurses warned children to ‘pretend to be asleep’ when Savile toured the wards.

Yesterday a child-abusing retired Stoke Mandeville consultant, Dr Michael Salmon, was in hiding after a woman reported him to police for allegedly groping her in 1982.
 
The woman, now 42, told the Mail that Dr Salmon, who displayed a Jim’ll Fix It picture in his office, squeezed her breast while pretending to check her heartbeat to treat her migraines. She said: ‘I was only 12 but quite well endowed. I was so shocked.’

Eight years later, in 1990, the paediatrician was jailed for indecently assaulting three other girls, two aged 13 and one of 17.
 
He served three years in prison and now lives in retirement with his wife Mary, 70, in a £750,000 cottage in the heart of the New Forest in Hampshire.
 

A woman told yesterday how she was raped by Savile at Stoke Mandeville where he wore a T-shirt that read: 'Sex Instructor, first lesson free'
 
Salmon, 77, was ‘unavailable’ for comment, said his wife, adding: ‘He is not here. He has gone away.’
 
A neighbour said Salmon had been keeping a low profile recently, adding: ‘He has been trying to avoid journalists for the past couple of weeks.’
 
Dr Raymond Brown, who worked as a consultant paediatrician with Salmon, said the doctor would have known Savile because everyone at Stoke Mandeville knew him.  ::snipping2::


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2224573/Three-doctors-collaborated-abuse-Savile-helping-select-child-patients-rape.html#ixzz2AeRmdtT7
 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

If memory serves correctly  Savile was named in the Island of Jersey case, the children's home.

[Toler]

 ::snipping2::
And Savile has also been linked to the notorious and now defunct Haut de la Garenne children's care home on the Channel Island of Jersey, with the former lead investigator into abuse allegations at the home telling the Guardian newspaper that he now had "no reason to doubt" allegations of sexual assault made against the presenter by former residents.  ::snipping2:: 

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/16/opinion/savile-scandal-hooper/index.html

[Toler]

A number of people are involved and it's not considered a pedophile ring?

They must have money.   

No doubt you're right, Amy's Sister. Money and power, doubt we'll ever learn who all the dirty, filthy swine are. They're all over Europe...at least!

[MuffyBee]

  Sounds to me like it's a case of CYA, and not so much as concern about the welfare of the victims.  Trying to explain it away isn't going to work.  And Mr. Entwistle's concern " This is damaging to the BBC and is a cloud of suspicion which cannot be allowed to continue." doesn't work for me at all. Mr. Entwistle needs to get on board and stop this kind of tactic and really, really delve into what happened and start immediately working with how the victims can be helped. I think some think they or their organization is so big and so important they are untouchable, and that's what has allowed pedophiles and etc. to operate so long and with so many victims.  It needs to stop!

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/16/opinion/savile-scandal-hooper/index.html
How celebrity child sex scandal has rocked the BBC
October 22, 2012


 ::snipping2::
George Entwistle, director general of the BBC, told a press conference Friday that "next week I will have news about how we will deal with allegations of sexual harassment...I remain confident our existing policies are working effectively to deal with any such problems today."
He says the network will hold two independent reviews as a result of the allegations surrounding Savile and the network.
The first inquiry will proceed, he said, once the police have finished their inquiries. It will look into the culture and practices of the BBC during the years that Savile worked there, as well as afterwards.
The second will look at the decision in by current affairs program "Newsnight" to drop an investigation into abuse allegations -- just days before the screening of a Christmas 2011 tribute to Savile.
Enwistle said: "Despite our efforts to make clear our belief that the decision to drop the Newsnight investigation was taken properly for sound editorial reasons, people have continued to speculate. This is damaging to the BBC and is a cloud of suspicion which cannot be allowed to continue."
He also repeated the "profound and heartfelt apology on behalf of the BBC" that he gave earlier in the week to the alleged victims of Savile. "It is the victims, these women who were subject to criminal actions who must be central in our thoughts." he said.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/world/europe/bbc-opens-inquiry-into-savile-sex-abuse-case.html?pagewanted=all
Former Judge Opens Inquiry Into Savile Sex Abuse Case
October 29, 2012

LONDON — The British Broadcasting Corporation said on Monday that a former senior judge had begun an inquiry into the corporation’s “culture and practices” that lay behind the sexual abuse scandal surrounding the late television host Jimmy Savile.
The inquiry opened on the first anniversary of Mr. Savile’s death at age 84 and a day after the British police, widening the scandal, arrested a former pop star in connection with the case.
 ::snipping2::
Since the British television station ITV broadcast a documentary about Mr. Savile earlier this month, some 300 people have come forward claiming that they were abused by the outlandish television star. They described a depraved environment in Mr. Savile’s dressing room at the BBC studios where teenage girls were molested by Mr. Savile and others, including Mr. Gadd.

The investigation by Dame Janet Smith, a former appeals court judge, is one of two that the BBC has commissioned into the scandal.

The other by Nick Pollard, a former head of the rival Sky News, is looking specifically into a decision last December by an editor at the BBC to cancel an investigation of Mr. Savile’s misconduct at a time when other sections of the corporation were planning Christmastime tributes to him.

Compared to the Leveson Inquiry whose public inquiries have covered the behavior of the British press in the separate phone hacking scandal, the inquiries into the BBC’s behavior seemed more opaque.
 ::snipping2::
The case has shocked the nation and shone an intense spotlight on the BBC. Nagging questions remain there about why the investigation by the “Newsnight” program was abruptly canceled, and how much BBC executives knew about serious allegations that one of its stars had engaged in widespread sexual molestation in the 1970s and 1980s.

Mark Thompson, the incoming president and chief executive of The New York Times Company, was director general of the BBC when the decision was made to drop the “Newsnight” investigation into Mr. Savile. Mr. Thompson initially said that he knew nothing about the accusations against Mr. Savile or the “Newsnight” investigation, but later acknowledged that a reporter, Caroline Hawley, had mentioned it to him at a reception shortly after the investigation was halted.

On Sunday, a British newspaper, The Sunday Times, reported that other attempts were made to question Mr. Thompson about the allegations against Mr. Savile, who died in October 2011. A freelance journalist wrote in the newspaper that he called Mr. Thompson’s office in May of this year, asking about the accusations that Mr. Savile had abused girls on BBC premises.

The fact that the network had decided not to air the “Newsnight” program about Mr. Savile was far from a secret. “This was in six different newspapers in January and February,” said David Elstein, a former chief executive of Channel 5, a BBC competitor.

“The big failing internally, and this is where Mark comes into the picture, is the deliberate incuriosity of the senior executives,” said Mr. Elstein, who formerly worked at the BBC. “There is a culture of avoiding knowledge so as to evade responsibility.”
 ::snipping2::Now, Britons are asking how a sexual predator, and perhaps his friends, could operate without detection in some of the nation’s most respected institutions, not just at the BBC but in hospitals and schools around the country where assaults by Mr. Savile are alleged to have taken place.

The inquiry by Dame Janet, who previously led an examination into the case of Harold Shipman, a serial killer and doctor who murdered scores of elderly patients and committed suicide in 2004, will gather evidence from those who have accused Mr. Savile of abusing them or raised concerns about his activities.

The latest of those to come forward was Sir Roger Jones, a former BBC governor and head of a children’s charity, Children in Need who said on Monday that he had suspicions about Mr. Savile more than a decade ago, according to an article on the BBC Web site.
 ::snipping2::
Dame Janet is also supposed to examine “the extent to which BBC personnel were or ought to have been aware of unlawful and or inappropriate conduct by Jimmy Savile on BBC premises or on location for the BBC,” the BBC said.

Both her inquiry and the investigation by Mr. Pollard are supposed to be independent of BBC control.

The BBC’s response to the scandal has fed into Britain’s political contest, with the Labour opposition calling for a full independent inquiry while the dominant Conservatives are resisting the idea. “There is always a danger if you set up a very substantial inquiry process of that kind that it takes much longer to get to the truth,” Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said.

The police indicated last week that arrests would be made, sending shivers through the ranks of celebrities who appeared on Mr. Savile’s television shows, like “Top of the Pops” and “Jim’ll Fix It,” and who feared that their names would be drawn into the scandal, as well as former employees and associates.
More...

[flutter1]

This story makes me want to  .  I say  them all.  They can  Saville and  his sorry corpse.  Sometimes words just aren't enough to express my   

[Toler]

Was Margaret Thatcher's Top Aide Peter Morrison in Paedophile Ring?
10/24/'12


The politician implicated in an alleged child sex ring at 10 Downing Street was Sir Peter Morrison, one of Margaret Thatcher's closest advisers, IBTimes UK can reveal.


Morrison was the mystery "senior aide" MP Tom Watson alluded to at Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs). Watson's allegation of a paedophile ring close to Downing Street stunned the House of Commons.
 
Morrison was a Conservative politician who acted as Thatcher's parliamentary private secretary while she was prime minister. He also masterminded her failed bid to hold on to the leadership in 1990.
 
Morrison left office in 1992 and died in 1995.
 
The sexual tastes of the prime minister's trusted adviser were an open secret in some quarters but were concealed by a police cover-up and threats of libel by Morrison himself, according to a former editor of the Sunday Mirror, Peter Connew.



Simon Heffer wrote in the Daily Telegraph in 2009: "At least one member of Mrs Thatcher's first cabinet was homosexual. Her last parliamentary private secretary, Sir Peter Morrison, was a constant trial to the whips, who were afraid that his late-night cruises around and skirmishes in Sussex Gardens would come to the attention of the press."
 
Connew told IBTimes UK that he saw first-hand how efforts to name and shame Morrison were hampered.
 
Morrison, the MP for Chester, was arrested more than once for pestering young boys in public toilets for sex, said Connew. When police officers tried to charge him, the cover-up began.
 
"Such was the hush-up that nobody could get hold of the log of the arrest," Connew told IBTimes UK.
 
"As soon as he was brought in for importuning young boys in public toilets, the seniors would come down. That was the reason the officers leaked the details: they were outraged that the seniors had ticked them off for arresting him.
 
"If they had nicked a lorry driver, he would have been up before the judge in no time."Print and I'll sue you
 
When reporters acting on tip-offs doorstepped Morrison, he came out fighting, added Connew.
 
"When they doorstepped him, he said 'print and I'll sue you.' This is something that Lord Leveson might want to consider.  ::snipping2:: 

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/397824/20121024/tom-watson-child-sex-ring-sire-peter.htm

[MuffyBee]

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/11/02/jimmy-saviles-estate-has-been-frozen-following-allegations-he-was-a-pedophile/?xid=gonewsedit&google_editors_picks=true
Jimmy Savile’s Estate Frozen Following Pedophilia Allegations
November 2, 2012

As allegations of sexual abuse against British TV star Jimmy Savile continue to mount, a bank has frozen the late BBC presenter’s $7 million estate pending possible legal action by his accusers. NatWest bank, the executor of Savile’s estate, has released a statement saying, “Given the claims raised, distribution of the estate has been put on hold.”

Once one of Britain’s biggest TV stars, Savile’s name has now become irrevocably linked with scandal. Ever since a commercial-television documentary in Britain outed the BBC presenter as an alleged pedophile last month, a steady stream of new victims has come forward. Scotland Yard has said they’re currently pursing 400 lines of investigation and believe Savile could have raped or molested hundreds of girls and several boys over the course of his career at the BBC.
 ::snipping2::
Throughout his life, Savile was well known for his philanthropy, often turning up at hospitals and schools to donate funds or meet the patients — visits that in the current circumstances may have been opportunities for him to sexually abuse already vulnerable young girls.

Unsurprisingly, the scandal has cast a shadow over his charity work. On Oct. 23, the BBC reported that the trustees of both the Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust and the Jimmy Savile Stoke Mandeville Hospital Trust felt that the organizations couldn’t go on, and that the money would likely need to be directed to other charities.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/nov/02/jimmy-savile-bbc-damages-claims
Jimmy Savile: BBC, hospitals and star's estate face at least 50 damages claims
Lawyer suggests compensation fund should be set up as allegations of sex abuse against presenter continue to increase
November 2, 2012

The BBC, four other public institutions and Jimmy Savile's estate are facing more than 50 potential damages claims from alleged victims of sex abuse by the late TV and radio presenter.

The rising number of potential legal claims shows there is no sign of the crisis abating. The BBC director general, George Entwistle, plans a further meeting on Monday with the National Association for People Abused in Childhood with the aim of forging a partnership with the charity, which is seeking funds after dealing with up to 6,000 calls since the Savile scandal broke.

Liz Dux, a partner at law firm Russell Jones & Walker in London and an expert in personal injury and child abuse cases, said she was in contact with 30 alleged victims and the number had almost doubled in the past week.

Up to 20 other people contacted Alan Collins, the solicitor who represented victims of the Jersey child abuse scandal. Another London-based law firm specialising in child abuse cases, AO Advocates, said it was in contact with five other alleged victims and was assessing whether to launch claims.
 ::snipping2::
Dux is acting for women who intend to sue the BBC, Stoke Mandeville hospital, Leeds general infirmary, the Duncroft approved school and an unnamed institution where Savile is alleged to have assaulted at least one woman.

No claims have yet been filed at the high court. Dux said she would be making an announcement on the progress of the claims in the coming days.

She said damages payments in such cases could range from a few thousand pounds for those who suffered a minor assault and were able to get on with their lives to hundreds of thousands if their lives were judged to have been wrecked – if they had been unable to have a career or form relationships, for example.

The cases are being prepared on the grounds of "vicarious liability" against the BBC and other public institutions, hospitals, their staff and agents. Savile was not an employee of the any of the hospitals but was invited on to their premises and, in some cases, given a room or access to staff quarters, making them legally liable for his behaviour.

With the police now pursuing 400 lines of inquiry, the threat of legal action is expected to spread to other institutions where Savile made official charity visits.
More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20184715
Freddie Starr released on police bail after further questioning
Freddie Starr has been released on bail for a second time after further questioning by police investigating the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal.
November 2, 2012

Mr Starr, of Warwickshire, was arrested under Operation Yewtree on Thursday on suspicion of sexual offences.

The entertainer has denied claims that he groped a girl of 14 while in a BBC dressing room with Savile.

 ::snipping2::
Police say Mr Starr's arrest falls under the strand of the investigation classed as "Savile and others".
Scotland Yard said Mr Starr had returned while on bail and was being questioned for a second time.

He had been arrested on Thursday at 17:45 GMT before being released on bail between 01:00 and 01:30 GMT on Friday.

Police believe former BBC presenter and DJ Savile, who died last year aged 84, could have abused as many as 300 people over a 40-year period.

They have described him as a "predatory sex offender" and are following 400 lines of inquiry.

On Sunday, ex-pop star Gary Glitter was arrested and bailed after being questioned as part of the inquiry.

Glitter, 68, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was arrested at home and questioned at a London police station before being released on bail until mid-December.

Liz Dux, from law firm Russell, Jones and Walker, said letters had been sent to the Savile estate, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Broadmoor, Leeds General Infirmary and the BBC saying 20 clients who claim they were abused by the late presenter are considering legal action.
 ::snipping2::

[Sister]

This story makes me want to  .  I say  them all.  They can  Saville and  his sorry corpse.  Sometimes words just aren't enough to express my   

agreed.

[MuffyBee]

Really?!  Really?!  I don't EVEN want to see this hushed up.  It looks like there may be a lot of CHILDREN that were subjected to sexual abuse by adults. This isn't about revealing homosexuals, it's about revealing pedophiles.  It matters not one iota if the perp and the victim were of the same sex, the fact is, if one is an adult and one is a child, it's peophilia, not homosexuality!  So what's this about a witch hunt for gay people?  Pull your heads out!!  So there's a worry someone's reputation may be tarnished?  That's partly how pedophiles get away with it.  Some don't want to say anything because it might tarnish one's reputation.     "...gay witch hunt..."     Poor kids.  JMHO



http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/08/us-britain-abuse-idUSBRE8A70OM20121108
UK pedophile scandal risks becoming gay witch-hunt: David Cameron
November 8, 2012
(Reuters) - Speculation about the identity of a senior Conservative party member accused of child sex abuse could descend into a "witch-hunt" of homosexuals, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday
More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/10/bbc-director-general-quits-after-saying-tv-report-was-wrong/
BBC director general quits after saying TV report was wrong
November 10, 2012

LONDON –  The BBC's top executive resigned Saturday night after the prestigious broadcaster's marquee news magazine wrongly implicated a British politician in a child sex-abuse scandal, plunging the network into further uncertainty amid a controversy that exploded after it decided not to air similar allegations against one of its own stars who police now say was one of nation's worst pedophiles.

In a brief statement outside BBC headquarters, Entwistle said he decided to do the "honorable thing" and step down after just eight weeks in the job.
 ::snipping2::
Entwistle assumed the mantle as head of the BBC just two months ago from Mark Thompson, who was appointed chief executive of The New York Times Co. in August and is due to take up the post next month.

Last month he was faced with his first crisis due to the growing scandal revolving around Jimmy Savile, the renowned BBC TV host who died last year and who is alleged to have sexually abused numerous young people.

In addition to the troubling possibility that Savile may have used his position -- and BBC premises -- to carry out assaults, the scandal further jolted BBC because its "Newsnight" investigative program, decided to shelve its own report into allegations against Savile.

That decision prompted deep soul-searching at the venerated broadcaster and assurances from Entwistle that he would get to the bottom of the decision.

But the furore was reignited when the same program aired a report on Nov. 2 about alleged sex abuse in Wales in the 1970s and 1980s. During the program, victim Steve Messham claimed he had been abused by a senior Conservative Party figure.

The BBC didn't name the alleged abuser, but online rumors focused on Alistair McAlpine, a Conservative Party member of the House of Lords. On Friday, he issued a fierce denial and threatened to sue.

Messham then said he had been mistaken about his abuser's identity and apologized to McAlpine, prompting fury over the BBC's decision to air the report, the suspension of investigative programs at "Newsnight" and mounting questions over Entwistle's leadership.

Enwistle had insisted he was not aware of the program before it was broadcast -- saying in hindsight he wished the matter had been referred to him.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.the-signal.com/section/287/article/80773/
Thompson starts as NY Times CEO amid BBC scandal
November 13, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Times Co. CEO Mark Thompson started his job Monday amid a widening scandal at his former employer, the BBC.

When the Times hired him in August, Thompson was hailed as someone who could help the company at a time when print publications are suffering from the loss of readers and advertisers.

Thompson, 55, left the British Broadcasting Corp. in September after more than three decades with the public broadcaster. He joined the company as a production trainee in 1979 and spent his last eight years there as director general.

In recent months, Thompson has faced questions over a decision by the BBC's "Newsnight" program last December to shelve an investigation into child sexual-abuse allegations against renowned BBC children's television host Jimmy Savile. That decision was made while Thompson was still in charge of the company.

Thompson has said he only became aware of the investigative report after speaking with a BBC journalist at a cocktail party long after it had been canceled. When he inquired later about its cancellation, he said executives told him it had been terminated for journalistic reasons.

Conservative lawmaker Rob Wilson told The Associated Press last month that he has written Thompson seeking more answers.

Savile, who died in October 2011, was known for his eccentricity, garish tracksuits and Cuban cigars. Early last month, BBC rival ITV aired a documentary that detailed sexual abuse allegations against Savile. Since then, scores of women have come forward, alleging that they were abused by Savile when they were underage girls, sometimes in BBC dressing rooms. Savile's behavior was the subject of speculation long before that, but it was never formally investigated by the BBC.

In the latest twist, Thompson's successor as the BBC's top executive, George Entwistle, resigned on Saturday after a Nov. 2 "Newsnight" report wrongly implied that a former British politician sexually abused a child.

After the Savile scandal broke, Times Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. sent the company's staff a letter that said he was satisfied Thompson had no role in the decision to scrap the investigative segment on Savile.
 ::snipping2::
Thompson said that he was "saddened by recent events at the BBC," but that it had no bearing on his new job.

"I believe that it will not in any way affect my job," he said.

The Times' own journalists have criticized its coverage of the BBC scandal, but it has published multiple stories about it.

Times columnist Joe Nocera asked in an Oct. 29 piece whether Thompson is "the right man for the job" and noted the ongoing investigation of Savile may distract him as the newspaper company's CEO.

"Since early October, all anybody has asked about Thompson are those two most damning of questions: what did he know, and when did he know it?" Nocera wrote.

The newspaper's public editor, Margaret Sullivan, had called on the company to pursue the story relentlessly, before she concluded in a blog post on Monday that "The Times has pulled no punches in reporting."

But as the BBC scandal has widened, media watchers such as news industry analyst Ken Doctor said Thompson should step aside "for the good of the Times."

Doctor, an analyst with Outsell, a global research and advisory firm, said there are "lingering questions about the extent that Thompson knew about the allegations."

"It's a major distraction for The New York Times, when The New York Times is in a huge transition mode for itself," Doctor said.