I have been accused of not understanding the situation regarding the Hutton report and the BBC. All I know is what I read and I am open to being schooled.
But it is quite clear where Reuters stands on the matter, from the title of this story alone:
- BBC Seeks New Bosses as 'Lapdog' Warnings Swirl
The search began for two new BBC leaders on Friday amid fears its journalists will be muzzled in the fallout from the biggest crisis in its history.
Former Director General Greg Dyke, who resigned on Thursday after the public broadcaster was damned in the Hutton report into the death of weapons expert David Kelly, said all media should take careful note. "I think every journalistic organization, every newspaper, every broadcaster in this country should be concerned," Dyke said.
"Someone inside of government, inside of the civil service who has very real concerns — as Dr Kelly had — could not be broadcast unless you could demonstrate that their concerns were true," he told the BBC Today program.
Kelly killed himself last year after being exposed as the source for a BBC report that Prime Minister Tony Blair's government had knowingly exaggerated the threat from Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s illegal weapons to bolster the case for war.
Dyke, a plain-speaking populist whose "cut the crap" campaign to boost creativity won respect from staff stifled by years of bureaucracy, was mobbed by tearful employees when he toured the newsroom for the last time.
He and BBC chairman Gavyn Davies resigned after judge Lord Hutton condemned the broadcaster in his report this week into Kelly's suicide.
"SELF-CENSORSHIP"
Widespread concern was expressed on Friday that the top two jobs would be filled by Blair placemen and that the BBC's will to break stories embarrassing to the government would be sapped.
But the 82-year-old BBC, a source of national pride to millions of Britons who affectionately call it the "Beeb," will overcome pressure to dilute its journalism, commentators said.
Thank goodness the commentators said that.
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