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BBC boss quits after sex claims against Brit politician

A crisis of confidence has engulfed in the BBC as director general George Entwistle quits after just 54 days in the job.

The BBC is in turmoil after its newly-appointed director general George Entwistle resigned yesterday, following damaging and incorrect allegations about a British politician in the Newsnight programme.

It is the second scandal to engulf the broadcaster in the last month, following criticism of Newsnight for last year dropping a report on the Jimmy Savile affair (allegations later surfaced via ITV).

Entwistle was appointed to the top job in September.

But the latest crisis saw the programme air mistaken allegations of child sex abuse against a former leading politician, without naming him.

Entwistle was forced to admit on BBC radio that he had not been told about the Newsnight report before it aired nor known – or asked – who the alleged abuser was until the name appeared in social media.

“As the director general of the BBC, I am ultimately responsible for all content as the editor-in-chief, and I have therefore decided that the honourable thing for me to do is to step down,” he said.

British newspapers have been emblazoned with headlines following the scandal. The Guardian/Observer started off with the line: “The BBC has been plunged into the deepest crisis in its history with the dramatic resignation of its director general, George Entwistle, after just 54 days in the job.”

Tim Davie, currently director of audio and music who was scheduled to take over as head of BBC Worldwide, was named as the acting DG while the hunt for a new boss takes place.

BBC Trust chairman Chris Patten has said that he wants to have a new director general for the British public broadcaster in place “within weeks, rather than months.”

The future of Newsnight is currently under scrutiny.

Meanwhile investigations into the Jimmy Savile allegations continue. Police have launched an inquiry and detectives said they had arrested their third suspect on Sunday, a man in his 70s from Cambridgeshire in central England.

Tonight ABC2 airs a 2000 interview in Australia between Louis Theroux and the late Jimmy Savile.

Source: ABC, Hollywood Reporter, Guardian

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