BBC Director General George Entwistle Exits Amidst Scandal

Entwistle

On the heels of the eruption of the JIMMY SAVILE scandal, the apparently false report on the BBC's "NEWSNIGHT" naming a politician as a pedophile has forced the resignation of BBC Director General and "NEWSNIGHT" Editor-in-Chief GEORGE ENTWISTLE after 54 days in the top slot, and now the Prime Minister's office has criticized the network for paying off ENTWISTLE's 450,000 pound salary.  

The BBC reports that Prime Minister CAMERON's office called the payout "hard to justify," while the opposition Labour Party agreed that the payout is "not justifiable."

TIM DAVIE, Director of BBC AUDIO AND MUSIC and soon to take over as CEO of BBC WORLDWIDE, has been named Acting Director General, while Director of News HELEN BOADEN and Deputy Director of News STEVE MITCHELL have taken leaves of absences but are expected to return, with Head of Newsgathering FRAN UNSWORTH and "TODAY" Editor CERI THOMAS filling in for BOADEN and MITCHELL, respectively.

ENTWISTLE had been under heavy criticism for allegedly spiking a report on the late BBC star SAVILE's history of alleged pedophilia in favor of a tribute to the TV and radio host when "NEWSNIGHT" aired a report by the independent BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM based on one alleged victim's assertion that Tory peer LORD MCALPINE was involved in a child sex ring.

The report turned out to be false and ENTWISTLE, in an interview on BBC RADIO 4's "TODAY" show, claimed that he did not know about the report  and had not seen the pre-show TWITTER publicity either.

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