BBC Watch!

[bernadette]

I loved Ceefax - specially the advent calendar at December. Before Breakfast TV and all that, Ceefax (in December) was the first thing on in the mornings to see the calendar. You could juggle/jiggle with the 888 (subtitles) page as well. I used to store the subtitles of the Sunday afternoon film and replay them over Songs of Praise (muted) later on. We were attempting to foster, in our children, an irreverent attitude towards religion - and boyohboy did that work.

I liked Ceefax I don't know why it had to end. It was brief shots of the news etc and in the early hours of the morning the background music reminded me of some shops. It also had a quiet humour, like the way its demise is announced. I think it will be missed.

[Frankie Lee]

Looks like this is what Watson was referring to:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/b...-miliband-live

Not him

A little more background on today’s PMQ’s

October 24th, 2012 |

I cannot give much more detail until the police have been given more time to investigate whether evidence still exists from the mid-nineties, but here is what I can say.

Last week I was contacted by a former child protection specialist who for some years, had been concerned that a wider investigation regarding the activities of convicted paedophile, Peter Righton was not fully investigated.

He contacted me because he knew I had spoken out in the Murdoch scandal. Over the years, he had lost faith in the ability of politicians to get to the truth. The last time he contacted an MP was in 1994. The MP promised to follow up the case but nothing came of it.

The central allegation was that a large body of material seized in the raid on Righton’s home had not been fully investigated. Though Righton was the subject of a BBC profile in 1994 [I think this is the date] “The Secret Life of a Paedophile”, little had been done to follow up the leads from the case. A specialist unit in Scotland Yard had the material which supplemented a wider investigation into organised paedophile rings in children’s homes.

Over the last few days I have spoken to two other child protection specialists who share the concern of the gentleman who contacted me.

Within the material seized at Righton’s home were letters from known and convicted paedophiles. The contact, who has seen the letters, claimed that one paedophile in particular was of great concern. He said that the paedophile, who worked with children, boasted of a key aide to a former PM who could help get hold of indecent images of children. I am not naming the person for obvious reasons but for clarity it is not former MP, Peter Morrison. This afternoon my office has been bombarded with calls regarding Morrison, I think because he was named by Edwina Currie at the weekend as having inappropriate sexual relations with teenage boys.

I’ll say more when I can but this may not be for some time.

I should say that like with the hacking scandal, a number of people have contacted me this afternoon offering more information regarding the case. I am happy to talk to anyone who can help me – particularly those who came into contact with Righton and his contacts when they were young. I can understand how powerless they must have felt at the time – Righton’s net was cast wide.

One person also contacted me to suggest that the Met held a vast quantity of material suggesting Jimmy Savile was a predatory paedophile. I do not know whether this is true but I do know the source and she has been 100% accurate in the past.

One final thing I should say – I made the decision to ask a question of the PM late this morning and had not had time to write to the Met before speaking out. I have no doubt the Met will take this seriously and am sorry I didn’t have time to forewarn the commissioner of my intention to raise the matter.

I have written to him this afternoon with more details regarding the case. This will obviously remain confidential.

http://www.tom-watson.co.uk/2012/10/...on-todays-pmqs

[PaddyJoe]

Not him

http://www.tom-watson.co.uk/2012/10/...on-todays-pmqs

Ok, thanks for the update.

[C. Flower]

Looks like this is what Watson was referring to:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/b...-miliband-live

The "culture of sniggering and nudge nudge wink wink" seems to have been in part what had, in the heavily male-dominated and conservative (small c) BBC, protected Saville and his activities.

The image fostered of Saville by the BBC, of a child-friendly, harmless and jocular guy was entirely false, and plenty of people must have known it to be.

Footage of Top of the Pops has been shown recently, showing him squeezing and mauling a 14 year old girl who was a member of an Irish "girl group" of the day while he announced the next act. She was plainly very uncomfortable with it, while trying to keep smiling for the camera. Appalling.

The whole idea, endlessly promoted by the BBC, that health services in the U.K. should be charity-supported was of course nonsense, given the still very strong National Health Services and was political (with a small p).

Saville was photographed with a group of children outside the Jersey childrens' home subject of investigation in recent years. The press has seen fit to publish that photograph with the childrens' faces not obscured, with no apparent regard to the hurt, damage and disturbance this might cause them.

There is very little evidence in anything I've heard so far that anyone in the BBC middle and upper ranks, apart from some women employees, who has any real concern or empathy for the very vulnerable young girls exploited by Saville and others in the BBC.

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

Eh- no. The BBC hasn't been 'male dominated' for decades. Ever since the 1970's there has been a senior and middle management layer of Birkenstock ladies.

Nice try though Cactus, with the final para implying that the 'wimmin' in the BBC provided the support while the males covered up abuse.

I had to review the senior levels of management in the BBC about five years ago and there was a noticeable coterie from the second in command of the organisation into the middle levels of Guardian-approved females and that is not new.

From academia in the 70's there was an influx of females (usually gels from the 'right' private schools) into the BBC.

This is not a gender issue. The most powerful heads of department in the BBC for at least the last twenty years if not more have been predominantly female.

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

The BBC Trust has six female Board Members and six male Board members. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/who_we_are/trustees/

Three out of seven members of the Executive Board of Directors are female.http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/ins...iormanagement/

Here also is a link to what the BBC describe as 'senior managers' for whom the BBC publishes biographies and pay scales. You will note that there is a pretty good gender representation there in terms of females http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/ins...e/biographies/


Director of News Helen Boaden has had to step back from the investigations because although she informed the now Director-General Entwistle about the Newsnight investigation (at an awards dinner) into allegations of abuse by Saville she did nothing more than that.

Why didn't she take responsibility for presenting the Newsnight information to police? Or did she 'do what she was there to do'?

This gender stuff layered on to the Saville investigation does not wash.

[C. Flower]

Eh- no. The BBC hasn't been 'male dominated' for decades. Ever since the 1970's there has been a senior and middle management layer of Birkenstock ladies.

Nice try though Cactus, with the final para implying that the 'wimmin' in the BBC provided the support while the males covered up abuse.

I had to review the senior levels of management in the BBC about five years ago and there was a noticeable coterie from the second in command of the organisation into the middle levels of Guardian-approved females and that is not new.

From academia in the 70's there was an influx of females (usually gels from the 'right' private schools) into the BBC.

This is not a gender issue. The most powerful heads of department in the BBC for at least the last twenty years if not more have been predominantly female.

Primarily, I think it is a political issue (with a small p). The BBC is a "cultural" arm of the British establishment, and promotes a world view configured to suit. The BBC's approach to popular music, when it came on the scene in the 60s, was not that different to the current approach to online media - grudgingly and slowly accept that this is not going to go away, and attempt to graft a tame and establishment-friendly version of it into BBC established culture. The BBC went out and bought itself a set of "their kind of" DJs - Tony Blackburn, Saville, and others. They could be relied on to play endless turgid top ten hits and accept the regular bannings of records (including John Lennon's "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" and other pro-Irish songs) without question.

On the gender issue - only secondary, imo, but still, "nice try" Captain - there has never been a woman Director General of the BBC.

director generals of the bbc list

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

Primarily, I think it is a political issue (with a small p). The BBC is a "cultural" arm of the establishment, and promotes a world view configured to suit. The BBC's approach to popular music, when it came on the scene in the 60s, was not that different to the current approach to online media - grudgingly and slowly accept that this is not going to go away, and attempt to graft a tame and establishment-friendly version of it into BBC established culture. The BBC went out and bought itself a set of "their kind of" DJs - Tony Blackburn, Saville, and others. They could be relied on to play endless turgid top ten hits and accept the regular bannings of records (including John Lennon's "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" and other pro-Irish songs) without question.

On the gender issue - only secondary, imo, but still, "nice try" Captain - there has never been a woman Director General of the BBC.

The Director General does not actively manage departments within the BBC. There was a lady recently touted as DG- Caroline Thomson. she has been number two at the organisation for years but was passed over so is leaving. She is, I believe the spouse of a former advisor to Tony Blair in the 'New Labour project'- Roger Liddle. Also the daughter of Baron Thomson of Monifieth.

She has actually acted as a Director General of the BBC on a number of occasions. Also a former Production Assistant on Panorama before going to Channel 4 and back to the Beeb in 1996 as Deputy Director of the World Service.

If you are under the impression that saying that the BBC 'has never had a female DG' works here, Cactus, you are wrong because Caroline Thomson has been Chief Operating Officer until just last month- she has a much more hands on role at a senior executive level than the DG. She chairs the executive when the DG isn't around and has done for years.

I haven't even mentioned the middle level of management at the BBC which is stacked with Birkenstock females. And they've been around for many a year.

You could appoint a female Chief Executive of IBRC tomorrow in Ireland- what difference would it make to the way IBRC is run if there is no change in regulatory oversight.

I'm disappointed in this blatant attempt to gender-politicise the Saville affair at the BBC. It is pretty unworthy of you. It is a classic example of 'Angry Lesbian On A Bike' style politics and the same sort of rubbish that paralysed the ULA early on. A descent into a prepared ghetto of gender politics with nothing to back it up except that the Director General wasn't a female- and the implication that if there had been a female DG the Saville affair would not have happened.

This is poor stuff.

[C. Flower]

The Director General does not actively manage departments within the BBC. There was a lady recently touted as DG- Caroline Thomson. she has been number two at the organisation for years but was passed over so is leaving. She is, I believe the spouse of a former advisor to Tony Blair in the 'New Labour project'- Roger Liddle. Also the daughter of Baron Thomson of Monifieth.

She has actually acted as a Director General of the BBC on a number of occasions. Also a former Production Assistant on Panorama before going to Channel 4 and back to the Beeb in 1996 as Deputy Director of the World Service.

If you are under the impression that saying that the BBC 'has never had a female DG' works here, Cactus, you are wrong because Caroline Thomson has been Chief Operating Officer until just last month- she has a much more hands on role at a senior executive level than the DG. She chairs the executive when the DG isn't around and has done for years.

I haven't even mentioned the middle level of management at the BBC which is stacked with Birkenstock females. And they've been around for many a year.

You could appoint a female Chief Executive of IBRC tomorrow in Ireland- what difference would it make to the way IBRC is run if there is no change in regulatory oversight.

I'm disappointed in this blatant attempt to gender-politicise the Saville affair at the BBC. It is pretty unworthy of you.

I was saddened (and surprised) to hear the appalling comments of male colleagues of Saville that broadly fell under the "nudge nudge" heading.

The BBC has I believe gone from levels of less than 5% women in management when Saville's career and screen identity was shaped in the BBC, to over 50% now, long after his hay-day in the 70s and 80s is over.

Do you have figures for Senior Management, today ?

Not about gender - but an interesting quick overview of the history of the BBC and how it has responded to various pressures of competion - from Radio Luxembourg, ITV, Sky and now the internet.

http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourking...y-and-tomorrow

[bernadette]

The BBC have instructed international law firm Reed Smith to gather evidence for Savile investigation.

Reed Smith have represented the BBC in litigation several times in the past and have would you believe this year hosted a series of conferences entitled 'Protecting the Media'.

Interesting choice.

This information is from Guido Fawkes site.

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

I was saddened (and surprised) to hear the appalling comments of male colleagues of Saville that broadly fell under the "nudge nudge" heading.

The BBC has I believe gone from levels of less than 5% women in management when Saville's career and screen identity was shaped in the BBC, to over 50% now, long after his hay-day in the 70s and 80s is over.

Do you have figures for Senior Management, today ?

Not about gender - but an interesting quick overview of the history of the BBC and how it has responded to various pressures of competion - from Radio Luxembourg, ITV, Sky and now the internet.

http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourking...y-and-tomorrow

Females don't do 'nudge-nudge'...? Never knew that was an exclusively male thing.

[Apjp]

What is this nonsense? Why do you think a female director general would have been automatically less incompetent than a male director general during the savile problems for example? Its like saying if Coughlan or Harney were Taoiseach we'd have avoided the bank guarantee automatically. Bloody feminism. Why can we not just agree that women deserve equal rights to men without creating a divisive gender ideal on the subject? If a man suggests men are automatically more competent than women it is called sexism.

[Frankie Lee]

Esther Rantzen knew of the allegations against Savile in the 70's but dismissed them as "green room gossip".


It is not plausible that his other friend Thatcher wasn't aware of activities when she invited him to chequers for Christmas on an annual basis.


Also I note his close friend Charles is off to New Zealand for a holiday now too, best to lay low.

[DCon]

Tomorrow's tabloids

[Count Bobulescu]

Here’s one US observation on the Savile affair.

Before he has even had time to measure his office windows for draperies, incoming New York Times Co. CEO Mark Thompson is in the media crosshairs. No less a figure than Times‘s public editor, Margaret Sullivan, implored the paper this week to investigate what role, if any, Thompson had in a burgeoning scandal at the BBC, which he headed for eight years until late this summer.

The BBC scandal is so long-running, so multifaceted and so sordid that it could potentially injure everyone who has worked at the organization over the past 40 years—up to Thompson but including the janitors who clean the BBC’s studio dressing rooms—even if they’re guilty of nothing.

http://blogs.reuters.com/jackshafer/...e-sex-scandal/