Yes, the child protection horrors that have been exposed should never, ever have happened. However, the BBC management of the time is not solely culpable. The NHS, School authorities and the Police are also equally guilty.
The recent Newsnight incident was a serious editorial mistake. However, at the time of the broadcast of the Saville memorial programme, did the BBC have enough evidence yet to keep broadcast the Newsnight one?
Nowadays in the UK, you can't work or volunteer with children or vulnerable adults without a CRB (police) check. I don't know if that's a part of of recruiting presenters.
It also has to be remembered that the vast majority of abuse happens to children in their own homes by parents, other family or family friends. So many children are at risk in their own homes right now and more than a few die every year as a result of this abuse. What we have seen from this investigation is that children and young adults are not necessarily believed, or taken seriously especially if the adult they report to has conflicting interests e.g. a mother loving her new boyfriend, a police officer scared of a superior. This has nothing to do with the BBC. Indeed, it was via the BBC that Childline, a freephone number for children to speak to trained counsellors was founded via fundraising. Every 4 years they raise millions for Comic Relief and now annually we also have Sports Relief for children and young people at home and abroad. Not forgetting Children in Need every year.
So, yes. They messed up royally. The women and men who were affected by the BBC's (lack of) action deserve help and assistance asap. I can't think of a reason why they shouldn't be financial compensated either. The same for the other outlets that enabled Saville's abuse
On a positive, I love the BBC. It was the channel of choice during my childhood. The kid's tv of the eighties and early nineties was of extraordinary good quality. Living in China for 5 months, the BBC world news channel was our only English tv channel and I learned alot about the middle east and Africa that I would have seen via the BBC in the UK. Back home, I enjoy Miranda, Sherlock, Have I Got News for You, Mock the Week, anything David Attenbourgh, QI. Last year's Olympics and Paralympics. Because its not owned by advertisers and its agenda is to stay neutral, it can and does regularly take all the political parties to task.
The BBC is reflective of British society. A society that is largely far more left wing than any US political party despite the fact it has to remain politically neutral. We don't want racism. We don't like guns. Israel appears to be a horrible bully.
Watching CNN or E!, American values are on show- the cult of celebrity, the diet industry, the various lobby groups. Fox news is legendary for its political stance.
The BBC isn't perfect but I'm happy to pay my licence fee to keep it going as without it I think it would be a massive loss to the country. Here ends my first post.
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