26/10/2012

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:00:08. > :00:18.It is now time for News watch with the latest on the Jimmy Savile

:00:18. > :00:18.

:00:18. > :00:23.affair. Welcome to news watch. The Jimmy

:00:23. > :00:33.Savile affair has buffeted the BBC again this week. How transparent

:00:33. > :00:37.

:00:37. > :00:41.It is more than three weeks since the Jimmy Savile scandal hit the

:00:41. > :00:44.headlines and things are not getting better for the BBC. A

:00:44. > :00:49.Panorama programme covered the whole issue on Monday including the

:00:49. > :00:53.BBC's handling of it. We now know that what the BBC executives told

:00:53. > :00:58.us about the original Newsnight investigation being into the police

:00:58. > :01:02.and not Jimmy Savile's abuse was not entirely true. Panorama also

:01:02. > :01:12.quoted an e-mail sent by the producer involved to the Director-

:01:12. > :01:24.

:01:24. > :01:29.The very next day at, an interview with the head of editorial policy

:01:30. > :01:33.and standards was broadcast in which it was said again. We are

:01:33. > :01:37.investigating the police investigation into Jimmy Savile and

:01:38. > :01:41.it was a perfectly decent investigation and it made

:01:41. > :01:46.recommendations to the CPS and it was dropped because of a lack of

:01:46. > :01:49.evidence. I thought they were misleading at the very least. I

:01:49. > :01:52.thought they were suggesting the story was not about the thing which

:01:52. > :01:57.was commissioned which was about allegations about Jimmy Savile's

:01:57. > :02:04.behaviour. On Tuesday, George Entwistle made an uncomfortable

:02:04. > :02:10.appearance before the Culture, Media and Select Committee. It is a

:02:10. > :02:16.matter of embarrassment -- embarrassment. The version from

:02:16. > :02:22.Peter Rippon were not as accurate as they should have been. -- was

:02:22. > :02:26.not. Coupled with tales of rows in the newsroom and revelations that

:02:26. > :02:29.nine serving employees are under investigation for serious

:02:29. > :02:35.allegation of sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour, the

:02:36. > :02:45.impression was developing of an organisation and knelt down. -- in

:02:46. > :03:13.

:03:13. > :03:17.Charles Paxton and many others felt I am joined by Alex Walsh also e-

:03:17. > :03:21.mailed us. There is no shortage of coverage of Jimmy Savile and

:03:21. > :03:26.everything. What did you feel about the focus of it? The focus is my

:03:26. > :03:34.main issue. The story breaks down into three strands. You got what

:03:34. > :03:40.was happening in the BBC in the 70s, you have the Newsnight issue as

:03:40. > :03:45.well and somewhere at the back of it is the whole issue with a Jimmy

:03:45. > :03:50.Savile, a paedophile, and hundreds of victims. The perspective and

:03:50. > :03:54.balance seems wrong. So you think what was going on with the police

:03:54. > :04:04.investigation should have been at the top of the priorities? The very

:04:04. > :04:06.

:04:06. > :04:13.much so. The way to put this right is not public navel-gazing and sell

:04:13. > :04:15.-- it is to get a right to the heart of the story. Do you think

:04:16. > :04:24.there was coverage elsewhere the BBC should have been doing? There

:04:24. > :04:29.was an excellent article in the Guardian. I've had to rely on

:04:29. > :04:33.printed media for that. For these new and coverings or specific cases

:04:33. > :04:43.of abuse. What about the Panorama programme which did have interviews

:04:43. > :04:44.

:04:44. > :04:50.with victims? I think Panorama covered both sides but it was

:04:50. > :04:58.advertised as an investigation into internal affairs rather than the

:04:58. > :05:07.victims. We are joined by Peter Horrocks, the director of global

:05:07. > :05:16.news. Who is in charge of looking at all of this? The Thursday before

:05:16. > :05:20.the Panorama went out the director general asked me to take

:05:20. > :05:25.responsibility across all of the BBC's news and current affairs

:05:25. > :05:31.because clearly there was some accusations against people within

:05:31. > :05:35.BBC News to have been involved -- there were. I have previously been

:05:35. > :05:43.editor of Panorama so I have taken that responsibility over the last

:05:43. > :05:53.10 days. Despite what Panorama tried to do, there is concern that

:05:53. > :05:59.

:05:59. > :06:05.the BBC has not been transparent with viewers. Alex is concerned and

:06:05. > :06:09.I would like to address that. The BBC's own journalism has been

:06:09. > :06:13.helping people to understand the BBC's own failings. Panorama did

:06:13. > :06:17.that. The information about Panorama in advance may have

:06:17. > :06:22.focused on information about what the BBC did or did not do but I

:06:22. > :06:32.hope you agree that the film itself told a powerful narrative of the

:06:32. > :06:33.

:06:33. > :06:37.voices of the victims and their anger. That was the story that

:06:37. > :06:41.Panorama told and it told the story of how television had created Jimmy

:06:41. > :06:45.Savile and how the BBC had given him power and control and the

:06:45. > :06:49.sadness of the victims who responded to that. We then looked

:06:49. > :06:53.at the issue of the BBC's recent responsibility and not getting that

:06:53. > :06:59.way and we went into that in some detail. I would ask there was to

:06:59. > :07:03.consider, if we had not looked at that, I would say it is proper

:07:03. > :07:11.scrutiny of the BBC. Newspapers are revealing stories every day about

:07:11. > :07:20.paedophile rings and naming people working on BBC premises. Why and

:07:20. > :07:24.the BBC reporting on those? I think we are. There were stories on

:07:24. > :07:27.Thursday of this week which we were reporting which were about concerns

:07:27. > :07:35.that the family had raised about whether the BBC had done enough in

:07:35. > :07:40.relation to one of its own employees. If the victims say the

:07:40. > :07:50.abuse took place on BBC premises, has BBC News been doing enough to

:07:50. > :07:54.

:07:54. > :08:02.give those victims prominence? have been covering those stories

:08:02. > :08:09.across all of our platforms. We have been able to give people a

:08:09. > :08:12.voice. Which people? The number of victims that have come forward. The

:08:12. > :08:22.victims that we know have come forward in large numbers as a

:08:22. > :08:26.result of this. There has been an outpouring of emotion about this.

:08:27. > :08:33.The BBC has been covering that. BBC Television News has covered it very

:08:33. > :08:42.thoroughly. Everyone is thinking, for how many years was this out

:08:42. > :08:47.there and could have been reported? It took 30 a 40 years. I am

:08:47. > :08:51.embarrassed and ashamed that the BBC did not get the story to wear.

:08:51. > :08:57.We know the public have enormous trust in us and that is hanging in

:08:57. > :09:00.the balance at the moment. We're trying to investigate and reveal

:09:00. > :09:10.what happened to the victims and give them a voice and make sure the

:09:10. > :09:15.

:09:15. > :09:18.BBC is held to account. Thank you both very much.

:09:18. > :09:21.Elsewhere, the BBC News reported the death of Flight Lieutenant

:09:21. > :09:31.William Walker, the all the surviving Battle of Britain pilot

:09:31. > :09:32.

:09:32. > :09:38.who died on Tuesday at the age of 99. His obituary left something to

:09:38. > :09:44.be desired. It contained a number of cases of incorrect and in

:09:44. > :09:54.appropriate film footage. Many of the aircraft are American aircraft

:09:54. > :10:08.

:10:08. > :10:18.not involved in the Battle of The City saw the demise of a

:10:18. > :10:19.

:10:19. > :10:23.broadcasting institution -- this week. The switch-off of the

:10:23. > :10:27.analogue signal in the UK has been completed with Northern Ireland the

:10:27. > :10:32.last editor of digital and that means goodbye to Ceefax, the first

:10:32. > :10:37.Teletext information service which has been running since 1974. It was

:10:37. > :10:44.the source of great regret to some. He I have just seen on the news

:10:44. > :10:49.that Ceefax is finishing today. I am appalled. Not owning a computer,

:10:49. > :10:59.I rely on Ceefax. I pay a television licence for a television,

:10:59. > :11:01.

:11:01. > :11:05.not a computer. That information, every day, it was invaluable. It is

:11:05. > :11:09.another diminishing service from the BBC. Thank you for your