BBC cover up : Grade resigns

"The competition is heating up in broadcast news too. Should the BBC respond by changing its standards or softening its news agenda? Not while I'm chairman.

The BBC has a duty to set the gold standard in news reporting, in accuracy, in impartiality, in creating better understanding."

"Making the important interesting: BBC journalism in the 21st Century" The Cudlipp Lecture, London College of Communications

By Michael Grade, BBC Chairman (24 Jan 2005)

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The BBC continues to squirm and dissemble about their advertorial for baby formula. Dr Crippen is grateful to the many readers who have emailed and commented on the story and in particular to those who have themselves made a complaint to the BBC.

Follwing the sterling efforts of Bob Dowling, Dr Crippen can now reveal that the BBC has appointed David Walliams to deal with all further complaints. Bob asked them why they did not state openly that the original misleading article had been altered. The BBC told Bob:

"The story was amended when it came to our attention that the website in question was run by a company which manufactured formula milk.

“No mechanism?”

Could Dr Crippen respectfully suggest a short paragraph is added starting, “We would like to apologise…..”?

The BBC might benefit from contacting Newsniffer, who have the technology to document every change in the BBC story as the increasingly panicky journalists (sic) kept amending it.

An anonymous commentator tells me:

Thanks to Newssniffer, we can see how this story evolved and establish an approximate timeline for when the lying cheaters messed around with the page...

Version 1
Version 2
Version 3
Version 4
Version 5
Version 6
Version 7
Version 8

Even Dr Crippen, for all his typos, does not need eight goes at an article. This increasingly tacky story has humorous elements, but let us not forget that the BBC is a public service broadcaster with a statutory duty to behave responsibly and honestly.

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