BBC Rape Factory: The story goes international [View all]

[AngryAmish]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/world/europe/jimmy-savile-scandal-turns-the-tables-on-bbc-program.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

"LONDON — The story seemed perfect for the British Broadcasting Corporation’s hard-hitting “Newsnight” program: a nationally beloved television host, it seemed, had also been a pedophile who for decades preyed on young teenagers in hospitals, in children’s homes — and in the halls of the BBC itself.

“Newsnight” found women willing to go on air to declare that the host, Jimmy Savile, who died last year, had abused them when they were young. But last December, as the segment neared completion, it was abruptly canceled by the editor in charge, who said there was not enough evidence to justify going ahead.

That decision, and the BBC’s earlier failure over four decades to investigate rumors about Mr. Savile’s behavior, is now the subject of three independent investigations. But they are just the latest and most explosive elements in a scandal that seems to widen by the hour, fed by a ferocious British tabloid press angry at the BBC’s coverage of the hacking scandal and eager, for a change, to write about misdeeds other than its own...."

Go read the whole thing

The story is disgusting. The BBC knew for literally decades that one of it's biggest stars was a rapist. But they did nothing about it because they chose to protect the brand.

This story is similar in many ways to the Penn State and Jerry Sandusky. PSU wanted to protect itself even when it had actual knowledge of the crimes. Another similarity is the predator used the facilities and connections of the organization to select his victims.

I thought that PSU football should have been shut down. I also think that the BBC should be shut down. But as a journalistic organization it will fight back, savagely, against the charges. The victims will be attacked. Anyone who opposes them will be attacked with every dirty trick they know. The BBC is fighting for their privileged place and salaries. No way they go down without a fight.