A catalogue of errors 

13 July 2007 tbs.pm/111

BBC error ‘no reason to resign’

Oh no, not again.

It’s not been a good few years for the BBC. WMD; “sexing up” claims; David Kelly; Hutton; resignations at the highest levels; Butler.

Then the Blue Peter phone-in incident; publication of the Balen report into BBC impartiality; Ofcom imposes an unprecedented fine on Blue Peter, and now this tawdry, wretched affair.

It seems a tragedy how the BBC seems to keep slipping on one banana skin after another. Ten years of Blair’s incompetence appear to have taken their toll. One can only hope that Mr Brown’s intentions to the Corporation are benign, and God help us if ever the Tories get their hands on the organization.

But I ask you… Peter Fincham may well have been telling the truth when he said he had no reason to doubt the veracity of his little explosive package, but wouldn’t you check before running something with a potential bite as vicious as one of the Queen’s corgis? And putting something intended – one presumes – only for internal amusement with other trailers… that sounds like a bunch of us at work making an X-rated video for the office Christmas party then putting it in a folder with other files destined for the live server.

No, questions should indeed be asked. But the BBC has got to get a grip of itself and restore to itself a reputation for competence. Because if it can’t get that right, it might as well throw in the towel now and concede defeat. And the buck has to stop at the top.

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