Kent MP Roger Gale says BBC can bounce back
North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale believes the BBC will be able to
rebuild its reputation following the decision by its director
general to stand down.
George Entwistle has resigned after just 54 days in the job over
his handling of two Newsnight programmes.
The most recent wrongly implicated a senior Conservative politician
in child sex abuse, the other was connected to the Jimmy Savile
scandal.
Sir Roger, right, who is a former BBC producer and director,
believes Mr Entwistle's resignation was inevitable.
He said: "It's very sad; nobody likes to see a good and an
honourable career end in that way and I fear George Entwistle was
the victim of the circumstances that he faced.
"But at the end of the day he was the editor in chief of the BBC
and the buck stops with him."
Several inquiries into the BBC are underway, including the decision
to shelve a Newsnight programme into alleged abuse by the late
television and radio presenter Jimmy Savile.
Mr Gale believes other jobs will be lost: "While George Entwistle
carries the can for the final editorial decision, the day to day
reality is that the editorial decisions were taken by other people
and there have been some quite clearly appalling errors of
journalistic judgement.
"Not to check out the background to the story, not to check out
your prime witness, not to offer the person you believe to have
been guilty the opportunity to comment is - well it certainly was
in my day at the BBC - unthinkable."
Mr Gale believes there has to be a "root and branch" re-assessment
of the core values of the Corporation and it's core purpose.
He added: "There's no doubt the BBC's reputation has been badly
damaged and that the trust in the BBC is at an all time low.
"I think a lot will depend on who is appointed as the director
general, there is a huge job to be done."
11/11/12
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