The head of news at the British Broadcasting Corporation stepped aside on Monday after a programme falsely accusing a former senior politician of child abuse sparked one of the worst crises in the publicly-funded broadcaster's 90-year history. The BBC has been rocked by two news programmes, one that falsely accused the politician which was broadcast this month, and another which alleged child sex abuse by a former star presenter, the late Jimmy Savile, but which was not aired.
The affair, which raised questions about ethics, competence and management at the BBC, has claimed the scalp of Director General George Entwistle and prompted its chairman to warn that the world's biggest broadcaster was doomed unless it reformed. The saga has also called into question the role played by Mark Thompson, the former BBC director general who became the chief executive of the New York Times Co on Monday.
Helen Boaden, director of BBC News, and her deputy Stephen Mitchell, stepped aside pending a review of why editors spiked the report last year on Savile, who has been accused of abusing children on BBC premises. Some BBC staff cast the 22,000-strong Corporation as a bureaucratic behemoth where journalistic talent is throttled by incompetent managers, and opponents - and even some allies - questioned whether it could survive in its current form.
"Everything is in play and I think this is becoming an existential threat to the BBC, not just in terms of the future of the corporation in its current form but in terms of the concept of public service broadcasting as a whole," said a source close to the inner workings of the BBC.
"They are fast running out of options, they're half way down the management list already," said the source, who asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. As well as broadcasting in Britain, the BBC World Service has built an exceptional reputation around the globe reaching about 180 million people in 32 languages through its radio, TV and online services.
Entwistle resigned as director general on Saturday, just two months into the job, to take responsibility for the report which wrongly said an unidentified Conservative figure from the era of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had raped boys in social care. But the man, later identified on the Internet as Lord Alistair McAlpine, vehemently denied the allegation and his lawyer threatened legal action against Newsnight, the BBC's flagship current affairs show which broadcast the allegations.
The BBC apologised for the report, which it said was shoddy journalism and wrong after the abuse victim who was the source of the allegation said it was a case of mistaken identity. Entwistle's exit failed to cool the crisis: the government said it was hard to justify his payoff of a year's salary of 450,000 pounds ($715,900) from an organisation funded by a 145.50 pound annual levy on households with a television.
"In terms of the public funding the BBC does itself absolutely no favours by promptly dispatching Mr Entwistle with a big pay off," Angie Bray, a Conservative lawmaker and member of parliament's media committee, told Reuters. Chairman of the BBC Trust Chris Patten, who appointed and then accepted Entwistle's resignation, said the settlement was justified.
Viewers were unimpressed. "I'm upset, they've messed up. I've just paid my licence fee as well and they've gone and rewarded this guy with a massive payoff," said Patrick Daguiar, 49, at London's Liverpool Street Station. BBC staff say the poor handling of the abuse allegations against Savile, a DJ turned television star who is suspected of sexually abusing dozens of children, and the flawed Newsnight report showed the broadcaster had veered far from its roots.
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