EX-BBC CHIEF UNDER FIRE FROM PAPER WHERE HE’S NOW CEO

New questions have been raised about when former BBC Director General Mark Thompson learned about allegations that the public broadcaster’s famed host Jimmy Savile had sexually abused numerous children, many in his dressing room at the BBC, over a decades-long period. The questions are raised in a report in today’s (Friday) New York Times, where […]

SULZBERGER GIVES EX-BBC HEAD HIS BLESSING, DESPITE SCANDAL

The New York Times‘s ombudsman may have expressed serious doubts about the qualifications of former BBC Director General Mark Thompson’s qualifications to become president and CEO of The New York Times Company in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sex scandal in the U.K., but Chairman/Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. apparently has none. In a message […]

NY TIMES OMBUDSMAN CALLS FOR PROBE OF INCOMING CEO

The welcome mat is being pulled out from under Mark Thompson, the incoming chief executive of the New York Times, by Margaret Sullivan, the newspaper’s ombudsman. In a post on the newspaper’s blog on Tuesday, Sullivan called on the Times‘s journalists to investigate Thompson’s knowledge of the late host Jimmy Savile’s behavior with teenage girls […]

EX-BBC CHIEF TO HEAD THE NEW YORK TIMES

In an apparent effort to expand its global reach, the New York Times has hired former BBC Director General Mark Thompson to become its new president and CEO. Thompson has demonstrated his ability to turn the BBC into an international powerhouse, aware that an estimated one billion people worldwide can now understand English. However, he […]

LATEST BBC NEWS CUTBACKS DECRIED BY JOURNALISTS’ UNION

The British National Union of Journalists has denounced the latest cutbacks at the BBC, which will see 140 jobs eliminated in the news division over the next year. NUJ General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet lashed out at BBC director general Mark Thompson, accusing him of engaging in “shabby, behind-closed-doors” dealings with the David Cameron government. “The […]

TWO INFLUENTIAL TV EXECS TO QUIT

Two prominent TV executives announced today (Monday) that they plan to step down: Brian Lamb of C-SPAN and Mark Thompson of the BBC. Lamb, who founded the nonprofit cable network in 1978, said that he will turn over the reins to C-SPAN execs Rob Kennedy and Susan Swain. In an interview with the New York […]

REPORT: BBC CHIEF TO STEP DOWN

BBC Director General Mark Thompson is expected leave the publicly supported broadcaster following its coverage of the summer Olympic Games this year, Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported today (Friday) citing unnamed insiders. The newspaper also quoted friends as saying that he has told them that he is “psychologically ready” to step down from the job that […]

BBC TO LAY OFF NEARLY 2,000 EMPLOYEES

Forced by government mandate to make drastic cuts, the publicly supported BBC announced today (Thursday) that it will lay off nearly 2,000 employees, produce fewer entertainment TV shows, restrict its expendure on sports rights and apply numerous cutbacks to its radio operations. The cuts are expected to result in a savings of nearly $1 billion […]

BBC ADMITS IT USES PRIVATE DETECTIVES

The BBC has acknowledged that it has used — and will continue to use — private detectives in the production of certain investigative programs. The admission comes amid a growing scandal involving Rupert Murdoch’s Sunday tabloid, the News of the World, which allegedly used private detectives to illegally hack into the voicemails of British celebrities […]

BBC CHIEF SAYS IMPARTIALITY RULES ARE OUTDATED

British regulations requiring that broadcasters be politically impartial are outdated in the era of the Internet, the BBC’s director general, Mark Thompson, said Thursday night. Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported today (Monday) that Thompson’s remarks, made at a seminar on impartiality in broadcasting, caught several BBC journalists, including Nick Robinson, its political editor, by surprise. The […]

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