18/09/2012 14:24 | By Emma Roberts, Entertainment Reporter, MSN Entertainment

BBC denies Jimmy Savile cover-up reports

The BBC has denied reports that Newsnight was urged to drop an investigation into allegations of sexual assault by Sir Jimmy Savile.


The BBC has denied that they dropped a Newsnight documentary to cover-up for Jimmy Savile. (© PA)

The BBC has denied that they dropped a Newsnight documentary to cover-up for Jimmy Savile.


The BBC has said that there is 'no evidence' that Newsnight was encouraged to drop a investigative documentary into allegations of sexual assault by Sir Jimmy Savile.

The BBC's director of editorial policy and standards, David Jordan, said that, despite the reports, any interference by BBC management into a Newsnight programme would make the journalists who make the show 'more determined to do it.'

"I don't think it's credible... to suggest that senior managers could influence the conduct of an investigation of that sort," he said in an interview with BBC Radio Four.

The BBC's response to the claims comes after the ITV documentary, Exposure: The Other Side Of Jimmy Savile, averaged a whopping 1.9 million viewers on Wednesday (5 October) night.

The documentary scooped a quarter of the total audience when the show was broadcast at 11.10pm and attracted ITV1's highest audience in the slot for the entire year so far.

The ITV programme featured five women who alleged they were sexually assaulted as teenagers by the DJ and presenter in the 1970s, some in his BBC dressing room.

In the interview with Radio Four, Mr Jordan denied the rumours that a Newsnight report investigating Jimmy Savile was dropped because the BBC were planning a Sir Jimmy Savile tribute show to be broadcast last Christmas.

He said: "It was a matter of judgement for the editor of Newsnight at the time".

He said that the Newsnight investigation was based "specifically on allegations that had been made to Surrey police in 2007... and allegations that investigations conducted by the Surrey police had not been done properly", he added.

"It turned out not to be true. Surrey police had delivered evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service, and the CPS had decided, on the basis that the evidence they had, that they would not proceed."

"The [Newsnight] editor decided that he didn't want to pursue the general rumours and allegations about Jimmy Savile's sexual conduct in the 60s and 70s, for a variety of reasons".

49Comments
Report
Please help us to maintain a healthy and vibrant community by reporting any illegal or inappropriate behavior. If you believe a message violates theCode of Conductplease use this form to notify the moderators. They will investigate your report and take appropriate action. If necessary, they report all illegal activity to the proper authorities.
Categories
100 character limit
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?

latest tv videos

10 reasons to make MSN UK your homepage (© Microsoft)

latest tv news