Shaken BBC prepares to defend its reputation

Financial Times ^ | July 20 2003 | Tim Burt, Media Editor in London

[mass55th]

"Gardening leave"....dontcha love the innocuous sound of that one.

I wonder if that includes digging his own grave.

[marajade]

Wouldn't his ISP have them too?

[jern]

good read, thanks. I always thought that this death would haunt the BBC more than Blair.

[Dog]

I found that article about the emails..

Hours before he died, Kelly told of 'dark actors playing games'

[Dog]

What if Kelly never told Gilligan any of it??

What if Gilligan made the whole thing up......the BBC is circling the wagons because they fear something is about to land on them.

[ShandaLear]

Mr Kelly was not a member of the intelligence services.

This is just an amazing statement.

[Dog]

BBC is funded to the tune of $2 BILLION Pounds a year by the British Government .....now if they are found to have made this whole thing up .....leading to the death of Kelly I think ...apologizing will be the least of their problems.

[maestro]

Your# 45.........

What if Kelly never told Gilligan any of it??

What if Gilligan made the whole thing up......the BBC is circling the wagons because they fear something is about to land on them.

Bingo!!!

?......and, what if Gilligan was 'one of them'...???

"Wag the Bulldog?"

:-(

[marajade]

Why didn't he just come clean and say he was source and that what they wrote he didn't say...

That article you linked to said he might of been afraid of losing his retirement benefits. I know I work for state gov't in AZ and I know if I commit suicide, my husband gets nothing. I wonder what their rules are?

[Helms]

Yes as well as the Joint Congressional presentation. (oops)

[marajade]

I wasn't talking about the BBC apologizing... I was talking about the scientist apologizing...

[Dog]

He told the House of Commons committee he didn't say what was in the BBC article. The man was probably telling the truth...

[Carolinamom]

In the US, some TV networks have been criticised for flag-waving and unquestioning coverage of the conflict.

This sentence is irrelevant to the topic of BBC's scrambling to trace how they/Galliger came to broadcast what they did.

It is plugged in between a statement concerning the resignation of one of their senior correspondents because of his faking a story and the call for a new media regulater to take control of BBC.

That sentence has no place in this article, and were I the editor it would have been struck for irrelevancy.

[cyncooper]

Finally the story is framed correctly that it is the BBC who has much to answer for.

After yesterday's horrific hounding of Tony Blair about this.

[marajade]

Okay... so he told the truth to parliament... why not then come clean about going to the BBC? Why commit suicide?

[MEG33]

That was a guess I made..that the BBC sexed up HIS info and he had no way to prove it.I only say that with more conviction after hearing a truely loathsome BBC investigative reporter speak on Fox yesterday.Pure Bias on my part!

[cyncooper]

Alastair Campbell, Downing Street's communications director, was furious. He accused the BBC of branding Tony Blair a liar and suggesting the prime minister led the country to war on a false premise.

Note the allegations that were being drummed up against Blair. Awfully similar to the uranium story being twisted against President Bush and accusing him of leading us to war on false pretenses.

What a coincidence!

(not)

[Dog]

You know what they do with leakers in England right.??

There is a Official Secrets Act....he just finished if he was found out.

[Dog]

just= was

[marajade]

I know... Like I stated... he made his own mess... He should have just kept his mouth shut and obeyed the law...