BBC director general George Entwistle quits over 'shoddy' child abuse coverage
London, Nov. 11 (ANI)
The BBC's Director General George Entwistle has resigned in the wake of the scandalous Newsnight broadcast smearing senior Tory Lord McAlpine over false child sex abuse claims.
George Entwistle announced his resignation 12 hours after he was humiliated in a BBC interview by John Humphrys over his handling of the issue.
In a dramatic statement, Entwistle resigned following pressure from senior government sources and from within the BBC itself.
He said he was doing the 'honourable thing' by standing down from his 450,000-pound-a-year job, just seven weeks after taking it up.
"In the light of the fact that the director-general is also the editor-in-chief and ultimately responsible for all content; and in the light of the unacceptable journalistic standards of the Newsnight film broadcast on Friday November 2, I have decided that the honourable thing to do is to step down from the post of director-general," he said in a statement delivered on the steps of New Broadcasting House.
"The wholly exceptional events of the past few weeks have led me to conclude that the BBC should appoint a new leader," the Daily Mail quoted him, as saying.
"To have been the director-general of the BBC even for a short period, and in the most challenging of circumstances, has been a great honour," he said.
"While there is understandable public concern over a number of issues well covered in the media and #65533; which I'm confident will be addressed by the review process and #65533; we must not lose sight of the fact that the BBC is full of people of the greatest talent and the highest integrity. That's what will continue to make it the finest broadcaster in the world," he added.
According to the report, BBC chairman Lord Patten said that Entwistle had no choice, but to go because of 'shoddy journalism'.