{"id":6844,"date":"2012-11-11T15:31:09","date_gmt":"2012-11-11T20:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/?p=6844"},"modified":"2012-11-14T15:17:43","modified_gmt":"2012-11-14T20:17:43","slug":"what-we-learn-from-the-ugly-side-of-the-bbc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2012\/11\/11\/what-we-learn-from-the-ugly-side-of-the-bbc\/","title":{"rendered":"What we learn from the ugly side of the BBC"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Jimmy Saville Source: Wikipedia<\/p><\/div>\n

Here at the In Box, we’ve grappled at length with the travails of traditionalist organizations caught up in long-running child-sex scandals.<\/p>\n

Again and again, the institutional shame isn’t the crime — pedophilia, rape and sexual assault can happen anywhere, anytime– but in the coverup, and the fact that people in positions of power allowed children to be abused for so long.<\/p>\n

From the Roman Catholic church to the Church of England to the Boy Scouts, finding the truth has taken far, far too long.<\/p>\n

Even the hallowed halls of college sports arenas proved vulnerable to the self-serving coverup.<\/p>\n

But it’s important and only fair to acknowledge, and speak bluntly, when similar woeful crimes occur in a modernist, secular institution — and this time the shame of cover-up falls very close to home indeed.<\/p>\n

The BBC is sort of a sister organization to America’s public radio network.\u00a0 NCPR and most other public radio stations in the US carry at least some of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s programming.<\/p>\n

For decades, “the Beeb” has been the gold standard of journalistic rectitude, honesty, self-examination and transparency.\u00a0 Or so we thought.<\/p>\n

It turns out the network — along with a lot of respected British institutions — turned a blind eye to the predatory nastiness of Jimmy Savile, a popular radio and television personality who allegedly assaulted hundreds of young girls over a span of three decades.<\/p>\n

Network executives turned a blind eye to his behavior and engaged in a cover-up when a documentary about his purported crimes was censored. That bit of skulduggery is still being investigated.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, one of the BBC’s flagship news programs, “Newsnight,” appeared cheerfully eager to report on allegations of child-sex abuse on the part of a British Conservative politicians.<\/p>\n

It turns out, the BBC got that story woefully wrong<\/a> and was forced to apologize “unreservedly for having broadcast this report.”\u00a0 The network has put Newnight on hiatus, roughly the equivalent of putting “60 Minutes” in a time-out.<\/p>\n

The BBC’s top executive, George Entwistle, has resigned, and it appears likely that far more severe consequences will follow.<\/p>\n

The take-away is clear.\u00a0 The leaders of any organization — conservative, liberal, traditional, modern — are vulnerable to thinking that their careers and their institutions are more important than the well-being and safety of children.<\/p>\n

That is a sad and astonishing but unavoidable fact about human nature. People who should know better seem remarkably blithe about setting aside the most obvious moral function of any society — protecting kids.<\/p>\n

Even organizations that lack the cloistered, hierarchical and sex-averse trappings of many churches and other traditionalist organizations are capable of turning away, of accepting upside-down priorities.<\/p>\n

Here in the U.S., the only logical and decent response is to toughen laws criminalizing neglect and cover-ups\u00a0 that leave children vulnerable.<\/p>\n

We should eliminate statutes of limitation and we should approve severe penalties — for individuals and institutions — for those who enable child rape.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, my hope as a journalist is that the BBC will return to its roots as a truth-telling organization, revealing fully and completely how this horror was allowed to go on, and turning over all relevant information to police.<\/p>\n

Perhaps with that insight, the proper people can be punished, and we can all learn more about how to prevent this kind of nightmare from recurring.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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