BBC: ‘Errors’ in Scandal Reporting

Two senior officials at the BBC on Tuesday admitted “basic” and “elementary” errors in their journalism when they inaccurately alleged that a Conservative Party politician was being investigated for sexual abuse. The BBC director-general has resigned amid the controversial reporting, and the acting director-general, Tim Davie, said the organization is currently in crisis. Davie and the head of the supervisory BBC Trust, Chris Patten, spoke before Parliament on Tuesday—more than a month after Davie’s predecessor George Entwistle appeared before the same committee. Later this week, the same parliamentary committee will announce its findings in a separate investigation into phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.—a move that could lead to more regulation of the British press.