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Murdoch owns times of london { August 27 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.sunspot.net/features/bal-to.tvradio27aug27,0,6366218.column?coll=bal-features-headlineshttp://www.sunspot.net/features/bal-to.tvradio27aug27,0,6366218.column?coll=bal-features-headlines
For BBC, it is all a matter of credibility
Hutton inquiry puts broadcaster on line
David Folkenflik
August 27, 2003
British Broadcasting Corp. looks as though it could best Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor government in the nasty, public fight that has dominated headlines in London this summer. But the U.K.'s most eminent media organization - one of the world's most recognized names in journalism - still has much to lose.
The background: In late May, BBC correspondent Andrew Gilligan reported that a senior government analyst alleged Blair's dossier arguing in favor of war against Iraq had been "sexed up" by the prime minister's public relations chief. According to Gilligan's report, there was no hard evidence for claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that could be launched within 45 minutes of a decision, the source contended.
After his identity came to light, the analyst was swamped by media attention and was pressured by the government to repudiate Gilligan's story. In mid-July, the analyst, David Kelly, was found dead, an apparent suicide. The BBC - sort of - stuck by its story: The media corporation is holding fast to the claim that the government exaggerated the threat from Iraqis to win public support.
Meanwhile, the Blair government - more or less - stood by what it claimed in the dossier, saying the reporter manipulated the facts. Each side has effectively accused the other of acting in bad faith on the most visible public stage imaginable.
Stories about the clash over Kelly and the Blair dossier contain elements of the Pentagon Papers and the feel of Watergate. A formal inquiry has been launched and its proceedings are public, but not televised. (Testimony is broadcast with actors reading the lines.) But Lord Hutton, who has led the inquiry, has publicly posted e-mails and other confidential correspondence that grant extraordinary insight into the recent operations of both the government and the nation's top broadcaster. The Web site is www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk/.
While Blair may be damaged, the stakes of the Hutton inquiry couldn't be higher for the BBC, says Alan Coren, a columnist for the Times of London. "It's been heavily compromised,"
"In World War II, not only the British but everybody 'round the world turned to the BBC," says Coren, who also appears on both The News Quiz, a political satire show on BBC radio and an erudite game show on BBC television.
Now, "there's the feeling that it isn't entirely trustworthy," he adds. "It has been very troubling for folks like me who believe that Blair is basically an honorable person and for the most part, think the BBC is an honorable institution. This is quite an important political and cultural moment."
Among the disclosures of the inquiry:
A second BBC reporter who interviewed Kelly said she was pressured by BBC executives to back Gilligan's report. She found the analyst troubled but less specific in his dissent from the official government line. For example, he did not confirm to her that the communications director and Blair confidant, Alistair Campbell, had personally altered the dossier, as Gilligan claimed.
Without telling his editors of his involvement, Gilligan prepped British lawmakers for Parliamentary hearings in which they questioned Kelly. Additionally, Gilligan's e-mails to members of Parliament appear to break a promise of confidentiality made to Kelly by Susan Watts, the second BBC reporter.
While publicly defending their report, BBC news executives privately expressed reservations about how reliable Gilligan's initial account had been.
Equally damning revelations have emerged about major government figures, particularly Defense Minister Geoffrey Hoon, who is scheduled to appear before the commission today. The proof of the Clintonian extent to which senior officials in the Blair government have been involved in the execution of spin is unmistakable.
In one indication of the seriousness with which the government is taking the crisis, Blair is set to testify voluntarily tomorrow before the Hutton commission. Just try to envision President Bush doing the same.
Support for the invasion of Iraq was always weaker in Britain than the United States. The BBC was accused of adopting too pliant a line toward the government by many opponents of the war. Meanwhile, in this country and in London, critics say that the BBC has fatally compromised its impartiality with its reporting on the pace of the invasion and its characterization of the often violent post-war period.
Such a charge could prove toxic.
The BBC occupies an unusual place in the media world. It is chartered by the government, much to the bitter complaint of rivals, especially those held by Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Times of London, several other newspapers and Sky News in the U.K., as well as the Weekly Standard, The New York Post and Fox News Channel here. Every British family that owns a TV set must pay a licensing fee that subsidizes the commercial-free operations of the BBC, which includes myriad radio stations and television channels.
That financial independence is meant to ensure that BBC news coverage remains neutral and that the corporation can afford to offer less-than-lucrative cultural affairs programming. Nonetheless, the BBC is not entirely immune to outside influences. Two of its highest executive slots, were Labor Party donors, though they have split with Blair over the Kelly affair. And its charter is up for renewal. Some would revoke or reduce its unique status because of its journalistic approach. As Josh Chafetz wrote in the conservative Weekly Standard this week, "The war in Iraq has left in its wake a string of embarrassments for the BBC that have many questioning its privileged status. Throughout the war, the BBC was consistently - and correctly - accused of antiwar bias."
A BBC spokeswoman declined to comment. A bright spot for the broadcaster could be found in the mid-August poll by the left-of-center Guardian newspaper, which determined that six times as many Britons trusted the BBC than trusted the government. Of course, that's 36 percent of respondents to 6 percent. More than half - 52 percent - trusted neither to tell the truth.
That may be the true legacy of this controversy.
Questions? Comments? Story ideas? David Folkenflik can be reached by e-mail at david.folkenflik@baltsun.com and by phone at 410-332-6923.
Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun
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