Posted on 01/29/2004 7:36:49 AM PST by Dog
BBC chief resigns over Iraq weapons adviser report ( )
LONDON, Jan 29, 2004 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- British Broadcasting Corp. chief Greg Dyke resigned Thursday, the second top BBC official to step down after a judicial inquiry harshly criticized the broadcaster's journalistic standards.
On Wednesday, senior judge Lord Hutton criticized the 81-year-old network for an "unfounded" report it broadcast last year accusing the government of "sexing up" a prewar dossier about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction with information it knew was wrong.
Gavyn Davies, the chairman of the BBC's board of governors, resigned Wednesday - the first time a top executive at the broadcaster has stepped down in a dispute over reporting. Davies oversaw the board, but was not involved in the day to day running of the network.
The BBC governors also appeared to bow to pressure from Prime Minister Tony Blair's office, issuing an apology following an emergency meeting to discuss the findings of the Hutton inquiry.
Lord Ryder, acting chairman of the BBC board of governors, said the network had to confront "serious defects in the corporation's processes and procedures. On behalf of the BBC, I have no hesitation in apologizing for our errors, and to the individuals whose reputations were affected by them."
Blair accepted the apology, saying it was "all I ever wanted."
"I think what this does now is allow us to draw a line and move on," Blair said.
Dyke had earlier defended the "greater part" of the story that sparked a bitter row with Blair's office, despite repeated calls from the prime minister for an apology.
"I hope that a line can now be drawn under this whole episode," Dyke said Thursday, announcing his resignation outside the BBC's headquarters in London. "Throughout this whole affair my sole aim as director general of the BBC has been to defend our editorial independence and act in the public interest."
He said, "I think my going is very important in preserving the BBC's editorial independence."
Although Dyke was director general and editor-in-chief of the BBC, he was not a journalist and did not direct its news operations.
When Davies resigned, he questioned some of Hutton's findings concerning the death of David Kelly, the weapons scientist who committed suicide after being caught up in a row between the BBC and the government about its case for war in Iraq. Hutton vindicated Blair, while strongly criticizing the broadcaster.
Many British newspapers expressed surprise over what they called a one-sided Hutton judgment.
"Whitewash?" asked The Independent in its main headline - printed in red against a white front page.
In the conservative Daily Mail, columnist Max Hastings said Hutton "fails to set his story in the context of the BBC's huge virtues and Labour's sore vices."
Most agreed Blair had been utterly vindicated by Hutton of charges he lied about the threat posed by Iraq, with one tabloid calling him "Saint Tony" in a front-page headline.
But some editorials said key questions remained about Blair's controversial decision to go to war, given the failure so far to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
"The government may have been cleared over Dr. Kelly's death - but that does not mean it was honest about Iraq. It is entitled to Hutton's narrow vindication, but it still has a lot to prove," said an editorial in The Guardian.
The BBC has so far declined to say whether it will take any action against defense correspondent Andrew Gilligan, the journalist who made the criticized broadcast.
Hutton, a senior judge appointed by Blair to investigate Kelly's death, cleared Blair and his officials of wrongdoing in connection with the death and criticized "defective" BBC editorial controls.
Hutton said the 12 BBC governors failed to carry out proper checks on Gilligan's story, which was based on an interview with Kelly, and then failed in its duty to inform the public that the information it broadcast might have been wrong.
The verdict was a huge blow for the BBC, which governs itself, even though it is funded by mandatory public subscription.
In December, while bracing for the Hutton report, the BBC announced tough new editorial rules, including stricter guidelines about the reporting of controversial stories based on a single anonymous source.
Michael Howard, the opposition Conservative Party leader, told the House of Commons following the release of Lord Hutton's ruling that the case for independent regulation of the BBC "has never been stronger." He added, "We have long argued that the board of governors cannot both run and regulate the BBC."
Blair, who criticized the BBC for failing for months to acknowledge its report was wrong, responded by saying there would be a thorough review of the broadcaster's charter.
That charter must be renewed in 2006, and many now expect the government to make changes in the way the corporation is governed.
Hutton's verdict was a major boost for Blair, who has been dogged for months by questions about Kelly's suicide.
Blair quickly embraced Hutton's conclusions, saying that while there was "an entirely legitimate argument about the wisdom of the conflict," critics were wrong to accuse him of manipulating evidence.
In another development, Hutton on Thursday ordered "an urgent investigation" into the leaking of his 740-page report to The Sun tabloid newspaper the day before it was officially released.
By JANE WARDELL Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2004 Associated Press, All rights reserved
Note to British newspapers: "You can't handle the truth" (apologies to Jack Nicholson)
Putting Dyke's comment above through the Parsing Translator results in:
"My sole aim was to defend our right to lie to the public when it suits our interest."
We need to rise up and say enough is enough.
Caught fabricating the news? CNN has probably already made him an offer.
If not the NY/LA SLIMES can make him feel right at home with the Dowdess and the other left wing liars who are at home at the NY Slimes and the La Slimes.
I only caught bits and pieces of the BBC's coverage, but it was invariably snide and overtly anti-war. The state-controlled media in England and Europe are a tool of international socialism.
I watched the debate in the House--high drama!
That's one cool thing about the English parliamentarians -- they're not afraid to throw down. Having a knack for rhetoric and oratory is essential to rise to the top in their system. The result is prime ministers who really deliver the goods in their public speech. Tony Blair is a brilliant speaker. On the other hand, our system is less oratory-intensive and so we end up with guys like....well, like Bush, who aren't quite as impressive when they present their thoughts to us.
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