Basingstoke MP describes George Entwistle's resignation as "right decision"

3:52pm Sunday 11th November 2012 in Local By Helen Morton

MARIA Miller has described the resignation of the BBC's director general, George Entwistle, as “the right decision”.

Mrs Miller, Basingstoke MP and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, was responding to news of Mr Entwistle’s resignation on the evening of Saturday November 10.

She said:”It's a regrettable situation, but the right decision. It is vital that credibility and public trust in this important national institution is restored.

“It is now crucial that the BBC puts the systems in place to ensure it can make first class news and current affairs programs.”

Mr Entwistle stepped down from the £450,000 a year post in the wake of the in the wake of the Newsnight child abuse broadcast.

He said the report, which led to Tory Lord McAlpine being wrongly implicated, should not have been aired and said that as the man "ultimately responsible for all content, and in the light of the unacceptable journalistic standards" he would quit.

He had been in the job just 54 days, during which time he also had to face controversy over the BBC not broadcasting a Newsnight investigation into former BBC presenter and DJ Jimmy Savile.

Comments(11)

popleyrebel2 says...
10:14pm Sun 11 Nov 12

It’s a pity she didn’t support the calls for Jeremy Hunt MP to resign over the phone hacking scandal and his very close links to the Murdoch’s.
Still, that politics.

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sonobuoy says...
12:48pm Mon 12 Nov 12

Yes its noticeable how she (and other politicians) are ripping into the BBC management but have avoided calling for various & numerous miscreant MPs to fall on their swords.

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popleyrebel2 says...
9:06pm Mon 12 Nov 12

The Government and media outlet are ripping in to the BBC and rightly so, however, there hasn’t been much ripping in to the NHS, PRISON SERVICE, and SOCIAL SERVICES where Savile abused children.
Is the BBC in melt down, no, only taken the heat from other establishment.

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jonone says...
12:33pm Tue 13 Nov 12

She's only said it to get her name in the papers and, of course, the Gazette will always oblige their darling Maria!!

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Sam_Walker123456 says...
3:08pm Tue 13 Nov 12

jonone wrote:
She's only said it to get her name in the papers and, of course, the Gazette will always oblige their darling Maria!!
Maria Miller was just doing her job in the House of Commons - it was not a photo opportunity. It would be strange if she had not expressed any views in The House considering her ministerial responsibilty in the Cabinet! In fact if the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport had nothig to say about The BBC then that would make front page news. You seem to be suggesting The Gazette should not be reporting the activities of our local MP who also happens to be a Goverment Minister. You also seem to be suggesting that The Gazette is not critical enough of her. Why would The Gazette ignore anyone so newsworthy? Also please give examples of when The Gazette has not been balanced in its coverage of Maria Miller but remember that The Gazette can only report the facts. If I have misunderstood your comment please accept my apology.

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popleyrebel2 says...
4:33pm Tue 13 Nov 12

.
Sam_Walker123456

It would be interested to know of any comments/ statement by Maria Miller MP over the Manydown Saga where B&DBC were found guilty of acting unlawfully, wasn’t her views newsworthy?
As the then minister for children I can’t remember any statement from her over the hacking of murdered school girl Milly Dowler phone. Also, I can’t remember her calling for the sacking of Andy Coulson (Murdoch’s man in No 10) and one of the main players in the phone hack scandal.

AS always, I stand to be corrected.

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Sam_Walker123456 says...
10:52am Wed 14 Nov 12

popleyrebel2 I am not Maria Miller's press secretary :-)
But I agree that she should comment on issues to do with her constituency and department. If you cannot remember any reports of her commenting on the subjects you mention then I guess she remained silent on them because I am sure The Gazette would have reported them.

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popleyrebel2 says...
12:59pm Wed 14 Nov 12

Sam_Walker123456
I am not having a pop at you however, I strongly believe Maria Miller MP has had a charmed life as far as the Gazette is concerned, furthermore, all local papers should hold their MPs to account, unfortunately however that’s not the case with the Gazette.

Quote from you, “The Gazette can only report the facts” un-quote.
Do you agree with me that all media outlets should report the fact? And therefore, do you agree with me that using an unnamed source (from within) is in fact reporting the facts, we can all create a story by using unnamed sources (from within) and the most popular unnamed sources are on crime and politics.
Investigative journalism means just that, however, with the speed of our 24 hour news and the rush to be first with the news too many reports are not confirmed/corroborat
ed.

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Sam_Walker123456 says...
3:31pm Wed 14 Nov 12

I am not sure I am following your drift popleyrebel2. What instances are there of The Gazette not holding Maria Miller to account. Bear in mind that The Gazette must be having trouble even getting to talk to her because of the interest of the national media.
Regarding your suggestion that we can all create a story using unnamed sources, again I do not understand your point. Are you saying The Gazette should do this or that they should not? In my opinion 'facts' are information ethically obtained and independently corroborated. 'Facts' are not obtained by bribery or corruption and they are not based solely on speculation, innuendo or rumour - although the 'facts' could be discovered as a result of an investigation triggered by a rumour.
Also I think you are being a bit unrealistic if you think a local newspaper, like The Gazette, has the time or resources to dig as deep as you clearly would like it to. The national newspapers can assign scores of people to investigate one story for weeks, whereas local newspaper reporters have to write scores of stories every week.

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BugBear says...
6:54pm Wed 14 Nov 12

Newspapers and that includes publications such as The Gazette have a duty to report the news to the buying public and although differing from national TV and radio services in that they can elect to slant their editorial in a biased and favourable way as per their whim, they should still report news honestly and make efforts to uncover skulduggery and corruption when it comes to their attention. You are obviously mistaken if you think the Gazette is a small town publication and therefore limited in its ability to allocate resources, it is in fact a small part of a large publishing organisation and well able, if it so wished to do what newspapers were originally set up to do, report the news and expose corruption without fear or favour. As for Maria Miller, she is a lady on a mission with an ambition to get what she wants, which is not necessarily what we want. She has already proved to me her word counts for nothing and her so called principles can be compromised by the offer of a cabinet position. The abortion non-story a couple of months ago a good example, was a cynical ploy to increase her profile in the public's mind, a calculated manipulation of the media and therefore us to further her and her government position profile, that's the kind of phoney world we live in now, supported by people in the media too lazy to get off their backsides and do what newspaper men and women are supposed to do, report facts not fairy stories.

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popleyrebel2 says...
7:40pm Wed 14 Nov 12

Quote from Sam_Walker123456.

“But I agree that she should comment on issues to do with her constituency and department”un-quot
e, therefore do you agree that The Gazette are duty bound to its readers to challenge Maria Miller MP on her silence on the Manydown sags?

As for reporting the facts I said all media outlets and specifically mentioned 24 hour news.
As an example, whenever the police are tight lipped about a case the media use the tag information from an unidentified source from within the police, this info has not been confirmed/corroborat
ed by the police. The example that springs to mind it the Madeline Macan where new reporters were reporting stories that were far from the truth.
Talking of Mandaline Macan her parent’s phone was hacked without any comment from the Miniser for children.

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