Senior MP John Whittingdale has remarked that the Jimmy Savile scandal goes to the core of the integrity of the BBC, which has consumed inordinate time, as per the MP, to wake up to how grave the Jimmy Savile sex abuse issue is.
John Whittingdale has stated that the BBC’s postponement in inquiring into ‘intensely damaging’ allegations over how it dealt with the Jimmy Savile affair could lead to the erosion of popular faith in the BBC.
Prior to a meeting of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMSC), the MP has voiced that George Entwistle, BBC’s Director-General, would encounter grilling on Tuesday over the manner in which the BBC managed the horrid Jimmy Savile sex scandal, which involves accusations of sexual abuse of girls against the Late DJ before his demise in 2011.
As per the MP, the BBC needs to sort out this unsightly issue rapidly to regain the popular faith in its trustworthiness and ethicality.
The rationale, behind the scheduled grilling on Tuesday of George Entwistle, is the divulgement on a BBC Panorama programme that the Director-General gave misleading statements about why an ‘explosive’ Jimmy Savile Newsnight investigation in December 2011 was shelved in January 2012.
The BBC Panorama documentary, scheduled to be telecast tonight, is likely to fling the BBC into a new controversy as the documentary asserts that the BBC dumped the ‘explosive’ Newsnight investigation after being pressured by senior managers. That Newsnight investigation reportedly contained shocking data about Jimmy Savile and his acts of sex abuse.
Entwistle had been told by news director, Helen Boaden, that this Newsnight investigation may compel him to alter his Christmas broadcast schedule, which contained homages to Late Jimmy Savile.
Detractors have remarked that he failed to acknowledge the grimness of the allegations against Savile.
Whittingdale has stated that the CMSC would investigate how Savile ‘behaved like this’ on BBC property without being stopped. The reason behind the shelving of Newsnight investigation and the green light for the homage programme will also be scrutinised.
Related:
Dead Jimmy Savile to undergo criminal investigation by Scotland Yard
Jimmy Savile organised “lasses only” discos at Broadmoor hospital
Jimmy Savile latest: Ex-presenter now accused of sexually abusing 9-year-old
To expect dishonesty from the BBC was impossible a few years back… now it seems probable….the BBC has to come clean…
Oh yes… the BBC has to answer responsibly the questions kept in front of it…. no more lying and shirking of responsibility by the BBC…..