"BBC Management is almost in meltdown at the moment"

DailAblution ^ | 01/28/04 | Scott Burgess

[Pikamax]

January 28, 2004 BBC Management "Almost in Meltdown" Lord Hutton's report into the death of Dr. David Kelly, released this afternoon, has almost completely vindicated Tony Blair and the government, at the same time severely criticising the BBC's reporting and governance.

This is a huge story. Most observers were expecting blame to be apportioned evenly, and the one-sided castigation of the Corporation has come as a big surprise.

The Guardian reports that:

"BBC chairman Gavyn Davies is said to be considering his position after Lord Hutton criticised the BBC in his long awaited report into the death of weapons expert David Kelly. The corporation has flatly denied rumours sweeping Westminster that he has resigned, but one senior insider said the mood at the BBC was 'very grim'." Expect resignations and rolling heads.

Here are some quotes, gathered this afternoon from the radio and the web. More to follow.

"In the end what it comes down to is a judgement by Lord Hutton - who he believes, whose motives he trusts most and in that, again and again, he comes down on the side of politicians and officials, who by and large he believes and whose story, whose narrative he accepts and he comes down against Andrew Gilligan, and journalism, I have to say generally, and against the BBC." BBC Political editor Andrew Marr

The BBC has been "drenched in disgrace and incompetence." Former Defence Minister Lord Gilbert - on The World at One, BBC Radio4

"A grim day for the BBC." BBC Radio 4 2pm News

"Completely unprecedented in the criticism of the BBC Governors' performance of their duty." BBC correspondent Richard Ayers - on BBC Five Live

"The [BBC] Management is almost in meltdown at the moment" Mark Mardell, BBC Chief Political Correspondent - on Radio 4

"Tony Blair couldn't have hoped for anything better." Mark Mardell

"There is no doubt the government has been cleared. Everyone from the prime minister down virtually is cleared of any misbehaviour." Correspondent Jane Peel

BBC Management is expected to reply soon. Stay tuned.

[Grampa Dave]

Ernest please post the article Blair Demands Apology as a separate thread. That will get more readership on FR, and then we can link it to these other threads.

Most people have no idea who Lord Hutton is, and what he has just done.

Thanks.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

BBC has a video clip of it, uses realplayer:

______________________________________________________

Lord Hutton
"The governors themselves should have made more detailed investigations"

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

ok!

[geedee]

[Grampa Dave]

Ping me when you have finished posting it as a separate article.

I will be clearing out of here soon. I will be baby sitting the grandkids by myself. My trophy wife has a cold.

This is absolutely great news, and most Freepers are not aware of it.

[GladesGuru]

"They desperately need new leadership."


BRING BACK ATTILLA THE HEN!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

fyi

[NormsRevenge]

Bump. Thanks!

[.cnI redruM]

I love it! Tony Blair is the first liberal politician I have ever openly rooted for. It's ironic, but I'm really pulling for Tony after this whole fiasco.

[Eva]

Have we seen the list? It is so hard to keep track of everything going on today. I am trying to watch the David Kay testimony on C-Span and keep track of the this vindication of Tony Blair, now the Iraqi bribe story.

[adam_az]

"BBC chairman Gavyn Davies is said to be considering his position after Lord Hutton criticised the BBC in his long awaited report into the death of weapons expert David Kelly. The corporation has flatly denied rumours sweeping Westminster that he has resigned, but one senior insider said the mood at the BBC was 'very grim'." Expect resignations and rolling heads.

[pointsal]

BBC = Biased Bumbling Creeps

[Pikamax]

Hutton heat knocks Auntie out cold


http://media.guardian.co.uk/huttoninquiry/story/0,13812,1133462,00.html


BBC chairman Gavyn Davies might have failed to act as the corporation's inquisitor-in-chief, but Andrew Gilligan's error was no 'Jayson Blair moment'

Emily Bell
Wednesday January 28, 2004

Gavyn Davies' resignation became inevitable from the moment the Hutton report rolled off the presses and was disseminated to the principals in the piece and, indirectly, to the political editor of the Sun.

Mr Davies rightly bore the brunt of responsibility for failing to make sure that the governors played their part as inquisitors as well as protectors of the BBC. It is clear from the damning Hutton report that this did not happen.

It is very sad, even for those of us who have been consistently critical of the governors' opacity and apparent lack of public service nous, that an essentially honest man like Davies departs in these circumstances. He undoubtedly did what he thought was right at the time, but in doing so left himself and his organisation more vulnerable.

It does not alter the fact that particularly after Hutton, the BBC needs strong and truly independent governance - and this should be delivered in the format of a reworked board of governors, rather than an immediate retreat to the untried Ofcom. (Though Luke Johnson must be kicking himself for taking up the chair at Channel 4 before knowing the 'big one' should come up).

Having taken its medicine almost immediately, the lingering question for the BBC is what now?

It can feel rightly aggrieved by some of the astonishing conclusions made by Lord Hutton. His narrow legalistic terms of reference allowed him to confer a magic immunity on government while simultaneously crushing the BBC. Lord Hutton was clearly inclined to the view that journalists who are loose with their language - and the civil servants who consort with them - deserve a plague on their houses. No mitigation was allowed for the post-hoc correction of Andrew Gilligan's 6.07am Today programme report.

Is the BBC's editorial system really 'defective'? Yes, there were defects in Gilligan's reporting, in the editing of the programme and in the managerial follow-up to the story. Greg Dyke and the director of news, Richard Sambrook, did not trawl through Gilligan's notebook in a forensic manner.

This was perhaps understandable, as their reporter had spent a great deal of the previous four months reporting for the corporation from Iraq. They were wrong not to protect themselves by being more rigorous with Gilligan whilst wanting to protect him. However, the persistent, vexatious and unfounded complaints from Downing Street over the impartiality of the BBC's war reporting had created an atmosphere which was not properly acknowledged in Hutton's conclusions.

BBC News and Gilligan did make one 'grave error' - at 6.07am, which it subsequently acknowledged, but the corporation refused to accept it was wrong to broadcast the story at all. Greg Dyke made a filmed apology for the incorrect content of 'part of the report', but was otherwise robust. This should not be the 'Jayson Blair moment' for Sambrook and Dyke - it is not the tip of an iceberg of dozens of fabricated reports, a la the infamous New York Times reporter. Gilligan's mistake might be indicative of an institutional arrogance that the BBC needs to address, but not of a generally slack attitude to news reporting. Anyone who doubts this should take into account the rigorous coverage the BBC gave to the Hutton report today, while Tony Blair was using the opportunity to demand yet more personal apologies and make smirking asides about the future governance of the BBC.

Alastair Campbell's ungraciousness in victory was even more marked, implying that a number of resignations ought to be fitting and would have happened had the criticism been towards the government.

The overall impression, albeit a highly personal and biased one, is that the BBC is still more concerned with the dissemination of unspun fact than either Mr Blair or Mr Campbell.

[Timesink]

Schadenfreude

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[Sacajaweau]

If I could pick two people to meet in my lifetime, #1 would be President Bush, #2 would be Tony Blair! God love them and keep them safe.

[Miss Marple]

I am extremely gratified. The BBC was absolutely poisonous during the war.

I am also sorry to see the Tories falling into the same opportunism that the Rats in the USA are using. The war should not be used for political gain, period. I am disgusted that the Tories can't find it in their hearts to be a loyal opposition.

[JCB]

Sure hope I don't get banned for this...

Despite the Hutton report, I think some questions remain. Namely, where are the WMD? Where did the 45 minute claim come from? If the US/UK was wrong or uninformed then let's find out why instead of sweeping it under the rug by questioning a BBC reporter.

I fear this report will simply be used to whitewash all the questions that still remain - ones that us pro-war folks should be asking every bit as much as the anti-war crowd.

Going to war on false premises (of "imminent" threat) is no small matter or one that can be easily dismissed - regardless of all the good that came from the toppling of Saddam.

[Ciexyz]

There is no doubt the government has been cleared.

Gosh I wish someone would clear the good name of George Bush in this matter. I want to puke when I hear the Democratic candidates bashing him for "going to war under false pretenses".

[talleyman]

Bump!

[Heatseeker]

Many more heads need to roll, as it is not a problem of one or two individuals but the whole culture at BBC. For starters, Greg Dyke needs to fire Gilligan and then resign himself.

In the reports I see so far, the Bolshie Broadcasting Network simply believes it is "Pravda". They won't accept Lord Hutton's conclusions, nor will they ever in all likelihood.