Putting words in mouths
: The BBC should be (but likely won’t be) embarrassed about the latest reports from the inquiry into the Gilligan/Kelly affair.
The Guardian reports that the BBC now admits that its bosses were concerned about Gilligan’s reports. Hmmm. Perhaps they should have admitted that before. They seem to be more concerned about circling their wagons (quaint colonial phrase) than about maintaining their credibility with the audience.
It also comes out that Gilligan did not have comprehensive notes of his meeting with Kelly and that his wording in the first reports was a bit stretched. The BBC show’s editor complained about it:
But several weeks later Marsh wrote to the BBC’s head of radio news, Stephen Mitchell, describing the report as “a good piece of investigative journalism marred by poor reporting”.
“Our biggest millstone is a loose use of language and lack of judgment in some of his phraseology,” he added.
Now get this, buried at the bottom of the Guardian story:
Gilligan was asked again if the “sexed up” reference was first made by him or by Dr Kelly.
He replied: “I said ‘To make it sexier?’ and he said: ‘Yes, to make it sexy’.”
Old trick, that: putting words in the other guy’s mouth.
