BBC faces credibility crisis over botched paedophile probes
Plunged into crisis following astonishing errors of judgment over news reports about child abuse, the BBC finds its credibility at an all-time low
They are words that the BBC isn’t accustomed to hearing about itself: “shoddy journalism” on one of its premier investigative programmes, “unacceptable mistakes” by senior staff, a director general with “the leadership qualities of Winnie the Pooh”.
The august British broadcaster, one of the world’s biggest media brands, is battling mounting criticism and outright ridicule as it scrambles to contain its worst crisis in years. Public faith in “the Beeb” has plunged as the result of one programme on an alleged child molester that it didn’t air – and one that, unfortunately, it did, falsely implicating a former politician.
It is hard to overstate just how enormous a role the BBC plays in British public life through its widely admired news reporting and its portfolio of dramas, documentaries and other offerings on television and radio. Even government officials who grumble about a perceived liberal bias acknowledge that the organisation is a major conduit throughout the world of British “soft power”.
The crisis began with the revelation that the BBC had abruptly shelved an investigation last year by its Newsnight programme into allegations of child sexual abuse by the late Jimmy Savile, a disc jockey and popular host of a BBC children’s show. The corporation was preparing a lavish tribute to Savile at the time the Newsnight episode was pulled, although the editor who made the decision denies any link.
The accusations against Savile have since avalanched, with police now investigating hundreds of potential cases of molestation. Critics have even speculated about the existence of a paedophile ring within the BBC, which has launched two separate independent inquiries into the scandal.
To make matters worse, Newsnight then broadcast an episode on November 2 on allegations of sex abuse at a children’s home in Wales, which implicated a former Conservative Party grandee. But Newsnight apparently did not try to contact the man for a response to the allegations. He robustly denied them, and his accuser subsequently admitted identifying the wrong person. The BBC was forced to issue an abject apology.
