Posted on 01/30/2004 11:44:47 AM PST by HAL9000
BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan has resigned in the wake of the criticism directed at him in the Hutton report.Mr Gilligan conceded some of his story was wrong, and apologised for it.
He said his departure was at his own initiative, but described the BBC collectively as the victim of a "grave injustice".
Earlier departing BBC director general Greg Dyke said he was shocked by the findings of the Hutton Inquiry and did not accept all of the report.
He said Lord Hutton had "given the benefit of doubt to every government witness and not to any at the BBC".
Mark Byford, the acting director general, said the corporation recognised that it had made errors.
He said his duty was to bring "calmness, clarity, leadership" to the organisation.
"It has been a very, very difficult week - that's an under-statement," Mr Byford told BBC Radio 4's PM programme.
"I would say the BBC at the top ... has shown it recognises that it's been an extremely turbulent week.
"It recognises that it has lost - quite extraordinary for any organisation - both its chairman and chief executive, but ... it must move forward ... there have been mistakes, it's a learning organisation ... and will be stronger from it."
Mr Byford is leading an internal inquiry into what went wrong and the steps needed to ensure it does not happen again.
'Grave concern'
He said the BBC had "a duty of care" to all its employees, including the Today defence correspondent Mr Gilligan, whose report was at the centre of the David Kelly controversy.
He added: "There will be a due process to consider the implications of the staff involved. I will lead that process."
Earlier, Mr Dyke told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was perfectly fair for people to "draw the conclusion that I don't accept all of the report".
"Our legal team were all very surprised by the nature of the report."
Mr Dyke suggested the implications for journalism coming from the report were a matter of grave concern for the media.
"Lord Hutton does seem to suggest that it is not enough for a broadcaster or a newspaper... to simply report what a whistleblower says because they are an authoritative source. You have to demonstrate that it is true. That would change the law in this country."
He said he had had to offer his resignation after the report but had not wanted to go.
Under pressure
Speaking outside his home in Twickenham, south west London, he said: "The governors were in an incredibly difficult position. Hutton was very critical of the BBC - so critical that the chairman had decided to resign and I too felt I had to resign.
"They decided I did not have their full support."
Ex-culture secretary Chris Smith said there had been no need for heads to roll at the BBC and called for next Wednesday's Commons debate on the Hutton report to examine the issues surrounding the Iraq war.
Tony Blair is under pressure to make a statement on the intelligence he presented to Parliament on Iraq's weapons after the US national security chief admitted for the first time there may have been flaws in the gathering of material about the Iraqi arsenal.
Downing Street says it will wait and see whether the Iraq Survey Group turns up evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
'Matter should rest'
The prime minister's official spokesman said Lord Hutton's report had been fair. "A dispassionate judge has looked at the facts and has made his judgment on the facts. That's where the matter should rest.
"We accept there was a lot of emotion and a lot of anger yesterday but the judge has reached his conclusions on his assessment of the facts and what people should recognise is that this is the judge's verdict."
THE HUTTON REPORT
BBC director of news Richard Sambrook has sent an email to all staff saying he will be working with Mr Byford, senior editors and news managers to look at ways to rebuild trust in the corporation.
Meanwhile ministers have stressed the importance of a BBC independent of government influence in the wake of Lord Hutton's criticisms of the corporation.
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said: "A BBC that is nobody's lapdog, that challenges government and raises debate - that is in all our interests."
TV license fees? You mean the TV tax? That's still the gov't, at least to my mind :)
Yes, but the TV license fees are a more or less steady stream of revenue for the BBC that will never go away unless the government decides to get rid of the system. If you want to watch TV in the UK, you have to pay the yearly fee. And most people don't want to go without their TV.
In Canada, on the other hand, the CBC's funding is just another line in the federal budget that can be chopped up at will.But what you're saying is that basically both the Beeb and the CBC are protected from any market forces. Their gov'ts have a monopoly on non-cable news.
Both the BBC and CBC have broadcast news competition. Unfortunately, they don't tend to be all that much different in their political ideologies from the government entities.
If Lord Hutton had been around during the Watergate Days, the comedy tag team of the Compost who created "Deep Throat" would have been out of a job like these creeps. Deepthroat was pure fiction and part of the media coup to get rid of Nixon. Since the success of the fictional Deep Throat, every left wing fish wrap in America has felt free to write and publish lies about conservatives. The lefties at the BBC tried to do the same bs to get rid of Tony and probably GW.
~The Weather started getting rough, the BBC ship was tossed.
If not for the courage of Lord Hutton, jobs wouldnt have been lost, jobs wouldnt have been lost.~
Good for Blair and the UK, Down with the BBC.
LOL! Really? There are all kinds of Gilligan's here where I live.
With a mindset like Mr. Dyke's, it is amazing that this has not happened at the BBC before. He is so quick to defend the LEGALITY of what they did....but he noticeably steers clear of any question of ETHICS in what they did.
How anyone could trust the BBC to tell the truth and not "sex up" their own reporting is a mystery to me.
It's actually rather amusing to read BBC News online as they defend themselves with propaganda feel-good stories about Greg Dyke, etc.
BBC News online's "reporting" on the Hutton report has been funnier to read than watching Monty Python.
BBC's reporting post-Hutton is nothing short of shameless propaganda...and an insult to the intelligence of the British public.
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