BBC crisis: News chiefs leave their posts in abeyance
The crisis at the British radio and TV broadcaster BBC continues to spread: Following the resignation of Director-General George Entwistle, the broadcaster's head of news and her deputy have stepped down from their posts.
This was announced by BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas in London on Monday. Head of news Helen Boaden and her deputy Steve Mitchell have handed over their duties to colleagues until further notice. Both had been asked to resign in view of ongoing investigations into the withholding of information in the case of the deceased BBC star presenter Jimmy Savile, who is alleged to have abused hundreds of children. The program "Newsnight" is accused of withholding information about Savile. The BBC was forced to admit in October that Savile had abused children. Savile died last year, but had apparently been covered up by the BBC until after his death.
BBC boss George Entwistle had already resigned on Saturday evening. This was triggered by an inaccurate report about another abuse scandal. The broadcaster had aired a program at the beginning of November in which a British Conservative politician was falsely accused of child abuse in a children's home. Entwistle had only been appointed Director-General of the BBC eight weeks ago. The head of the BBC's World Service, Tim Davie, will now take over as head of the broadcaster until a successor to Entwistle is found. (SDA)
