Charlie Beckett makes an insightful point about last night’s Panorama covering the BBC’s multiple failures to expose Jimmy Savile as a paedophile and sexual predator:
Likewise, let’s put the Newsnight controversy in perspective. The Newsnight debacle is familiar to anyone who’s seen editors under pressure make unfortunate decisions in a culture where risk is rarely rewarded and where ‘brave’ is a term of mockery. I doubt there was any direct attempt by senior bosses to kill that film.
It’s very easy to go hunting for people to blame in a situation like this. Far more often it’s the culture to blame – but a culture is still made up of people. A lot of people. In many ways, that’s worse.