Hutton: Fleet Street's reaction (BBC In Crisis)

BBC News ^ | January 28, 2004

[Timesink]

Hutton: Fleet Street's reaction

Journalists from Britain's national press give their initial responses to the Hutton Inquiry report.

Michael White, political editor, Guardian:
Lord Hutton has been very severe on the BBC, rightly so in many respects in my view. But he has been overly generous to the government machine and some individuals within it. Any 72-year-old who pronounces the word "hotel" without an "h" is a very establishment figure.

Hamish McDonnell, political editor, Scotsman:
It's not quite what we expected. It's surprised a lot of people in the way the government got off the hook while the BBC has taken it in the neck.

Kamal Ahmed, political editor, Observer:
There's been some expression of surprise that Lord Hutton did not make a nod to some of the febrile nature in efforts to get Kelly's name into the open. The fact Blair was sitting shoulder to shoulder with Geoff Hoon in Parliament today betrays the confidence it has in him. It's not the government we are watching for resignations, but the BBC.

Michael Williams, deputy editor, Independent on Sunday:
We welcome the Hutton Report, but now it is out of the way we need to return to the emphatic issue: were the British people taken into the war with the wrong information that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The row between Campbell and the BBC was a diversion from this substantive issue.

Philip Stephens, associate editor, Financial Times:
At the heart of the Hutton Inquiry was the gravest charge that could be laid against any prime minister - that Tony Blair lied in order to take his country to war. It is an allegation that Lord Hutton has resoundingly rejected. We should take this judgement as a reminder that politicians in general are generally decent honest people trying to do the right thing, even when we disagree with them. The BBC and everyone in the media should now look carefully at the quality of their journalism, particularly in their coverage of politics.

Quentin Letts, sketch writer, Daily Mail:
My personal suspicion is that the report is laughably naive about the more slippery aspects of modern politics. It's a rotten day for independent journalism. Let's hope the BBC responds with muscle and doesn't despair.

Boris Johnson, columnist, Daily Telegraph, and Conservative MP:
The extraordinary thing is that the report can be so one-sided. I was expecting rather more reflection of what came up in the Hutton Inquiry itself.

David Cracknell, political editor, Sunday Times:
I'm surprised and a bit disappointed that Lord Hutton seems to have considered things in such a narrow way. There are questions which I'd hoped he would answer that he hasn't broached, such as why hints about Kelly's identity were appearing in newspapers before even Tony Blair apparently knew who he was. From my initial reading it seems the government has totally been let off the hook, bar one small point. The word "whitewash" will be bandied around by others, no doubt.

Other newspapers were approached for comments but for various reasons were unable to supply one.

[Timesink]

As you can see, much of the media WILL NEVER GET IT.

[Timesink]

As you can see, much of the news media WILL NEVER GET IT.

Schadenfreude

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[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Rats!

[Heatseeker]

Philip Stephens, associate editor, Financial Times:

At the heart of the Hutton Inquiry was the gravest charge that could be laid against any prime minister - that Tony Blair lied in order to take his country to war. It is an allegation that Lord Hutton has resoundingly rejected. We should take this judgement as a reminder that politicians in general are generally decent honest people trying to do the right thing, even when we disagree with them. The BBC and everyone in the media should now look carefully at the quality of their journalism, particularly in their coverage of politics.

If I was the Queen, I'd knight this guy purely on the basis of the paragraph above. Never were truer words spoken.

[17th Miss Regt]

As I see it, no examination of the integrity and thoroughness of the BBC reporting is complete without asking the New York Times' Jayson Blair about it.

[Heatseeker]

LOL. I'd pay for Lord Hutton's first-class plane fare over here if he could do the same thing to ABC/NBC/CBS/NY Slimes & crowd.

[Heatseeker]

Glad to see an MP believes, as I do, that Greg Dyke should walk the plank:

Exerpted from an article in the Guardian:

Greg Dyke should go, says Chris Bryant

Labour backbencher and member of the culture select committee Chris Bryant said BBC director general Greg Dyke should be the one to resign.

He said Lord Hutton's criticism of the BBC's editorial system struck at the heart of the corporation's credibility. "It is the editor in chief, the director general, who really should be tendering his resignation."

[eyespysomething]

So the editors of the NYT had to resign, and now the director of the BBC is going to resign? Swe-ee--eeeee-ttt

[Heatseeker]

One other thing. According to the BBC itself, the position of its Chairman of Governors is a prime ministerial appointment.

I think Tony should really stick to them by naming Alastair Campbell.

[RobbyS]

But One thing I will say about the Brits: they do it the right way. When some responsible big wigs gets slapped, he RESIGNS. Our guys, no matterw what, have to be blasted out of their positions.

[Howlin]

More.

[Ciexyz]

Two resignations today at the BBC. A step in the right direction.