TAKING THE BLAME

BBC Director Resigns

Over controversial child-abuse broadcast.

The BBC’s director-general, George Entwistle, has resigned from the network after a controversial program about child abuse aired on Newsnight. The broadcast wrongly implicated a political party member, Lord McAlpine, in the abuse case—which Entwistle later claimed he knew nothing about. “In the light of what has happened here I wish this was referred to me, but it wasn’t. I found out about the film the following day,” he told an interviewer. On Saturday, Entwistle released a statement saying stepping down was the “honorable thing to do” and that "the wholly exceptional events of the past few weeks have led me to conclude that the BBC should appoint a new leader.” Tim Davie will step in as acting director-general before a permanent successor is chosen.