The Hutton Report
Well, now that the Hutton Report has been published, let us take a moment to put the report into its proper perspective. The media continues to accuse the BBC of broadcasting a false report. Let us get this in perspective, the false report came not from the BBC itself, but from one man, Andrew Gilligan. His reporting was unquestionably bad, and his report was further embellished by his own article in a sunday newspaper. Yes, the BBC's editors should have done better in trying to weed out the truth or otherwise of the story, yes, the Governors of the BBC should have looked into it too, rather than purely relying on the management, but ultimately, this comes down to one man and one man only. His name, Andrew Gilligan. His credibility has been torn apart, and I think, he should now be fired from his BBC job.
But in this age, where we have a lot of recording devices at our disposal, why oh why are BBC journalists not routinely recording conversations on at least dictaphones or mini-disc recorders, so that there can be NO doubt about what was said. It is imperitive that these kinds of processes are implemented. We cannot allow journalists for a broadcaster to go to these kinds of meetings without some sort of recording device to record what is ACTUALLY said, not what a reporter BELIEVES was said.
