A BBC Pedophilia Scandal Has A New York Times Connection

Labor unrest and dreadful financial losses aren’t all the New York Times has to worry about. A pedophilia scandal now rocking the BBC — one eerily similar to the Jerry Sandusky scandal — may prove an embarrassment to the New York Times and raise eyebrows yet again over the management capabilities and judgment of Arthur Ochs “Pinch” Sulzberger, Jr.

London police are now investigating numerous allegations that the late BBC host Jimmy Savile was a pedophile who had a hearty appetite for underage girls, possibly molesting or raping dozens of them, including some on the British Broadcasting Company’s property. Savile’s alleged victims started coming forward after he died in November, 2011, at the age of 84. Now, sordid tales about the eccentric celebrity’s alleged sex abuse are making lurid headlines in Britain – and provoking speculation that top BBC officials turned their heads to what was happening.

One of those BBC officials is none other than Mark Thompson, set to become the New York Times new president and chief executive next month, following years at the BBC, including as director general of the taxpayer-funded network with a decidedly left-leaning worldview. Thompson was Sulzberger’s pick to turn around the Times, and his compensation — to the outrage of a newsroom reeling from budget cuts and layoffs — includes an annual salary of $1 million and an immediate signing bonus valued at $3 million.

Savile was best known for his BBC show “Jim’ll Fix It,” which ran from 1975 to 1994 and that involved Sevile granting “supplicants (usually children) their dearest wish: to tame lions, to fly the Concorde, etc.,” according to his obituary in the New York Times last year. He was involved in charity work and was knighted in 1990. Interestingly, though, Savile’s predatory sexual behavior appeared to have been an open secret in the television industry.

To its credit, the Times on Sunday mentioned Thompson’s potential role in the scandal in an article by Sarah Lyall, “Silence on Abuse Reports Plunges BBC Into Scandal.” Among other things, her article raised questions about what Thompson knew; when he knew it; and whether he was involved in a cover-up.

Explaining how the revelations of alleged child molestation have affected the BBC, Lyall writes:

The scandal has engulfed the corporation, which failed to investigate rumors or take seriously accusations about his behavior at the time. Perhaps even more damningly, it canceled a segment about the allegations that was scheduled to be broadcast last December on “Newsnight,” an influential evening current-affairs program.

About the same time, the corporation broadcast three tributes to Mr. Savile, who died last year at 84MORE HERE