BBC suspends bosses

A number of senior BBC editorial staff have been suspended with immediate effect in the wake of revelations about faked phone-in competitions.

A BBC spokeswoman said junior personnel were not involved, but declined to comment on the numbers affected. Meanwhile, BBC director general Mark Thompson has been given a vote of confidence by the BBC Trust.Chairman Sir Michael Lyons said he was ‘the right person to lead change’, and was ‘confident he will do it’.But he told BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme they would ‘suspend judgement until we have seen improvement’.Serious editorial breaches were found in six shows, including ‘Comic Relief’.The charity said in a statement that ‘these broadcast problems will not affect its grant-giving or donations in any way’.Sir Michael warned that the Trust, which oversees the BBC’s activities and represents licence fee payers, would be “watching very carefully” to ensure the correct sanctions were applied.”We will come back in a year’s time to make sure the BBC is a different place to the one it is today,” he added.Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom said the admissions posed ‘serious questions’ under its code of conduct and that it would request further information about the cases before taking action.It added that it would speak to the BBC Trust about wider issues arising from recent findings that there was a “systematic failure” in the way TV channels have run premium rate phone services.In the House of Commons, Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman said the government were ‘strong supporters of the BBC’.”It is of course important they have the trust of all their viewers but…this is not just an issue for the BBC but across all broadcasters,” she added.In response to Conservative MP Andrew Mackay saying people had ‘lost trust in the BBC’, Harman replied: “We know the BBC is acting on this, we support them in their actions.”Broadcasting union Bectu has warned that junior production staff should not become targets in the inquiry.General secretary Gerry Morrissey said: “This situation is of senior management’s making.We will strongly defend any of our members who are disciplined because the problem lies at the top.”Jeremy Dear, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said staff shortages and short-term contracts across the industry were to blame for ‘cutting corners’.Thompson has outlined a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to future lapses in editorial judgement.All phone-related competitions on BBC TV and radio ceased from midnight on Wednesday, while interactive and online competitions will be taken down as soon as possible.Thompson has also ordered an independent inquiry into footage that wrongly implied the Queen walked out of a photo session.The BBC Trust said it was “deeply concerned that significant failures of control and compliance within the BBC have compromised the BBC’s values of accuracy and honesty”.Other measures outlined in Thompson’s action plan include mandatory training for 16 500 staff.He has also called for a workshop involving other broadcasters to discuss issues surrounding editorial standards and training.BBCMeanwhile, BBC director general Mark Thompson has been given a vote of confidence by the BBC Trust.Chairman Sir Michael Lyons said he was ‘the right person to lead change’, and was ‘confident he will do it’.But he told BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme they would ‘suspend judgement until we have seen improvement’.Serious editorial breaches were found in six shows, including ‘Comic Relief’.The charity said in a statement that ‘these broadcast problems will not affect its grant-giving or donations in any way’.Sir Michael warned that the Trust, which oversees the BBC’s activities and represents licence fee payers, would be “watching very carefully” to ensure the correct sanctions were applied.”We will come back in a year’s time to make sure the BBC is a different place to the one it is today,” he added.Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom said the admissions posed ‘serious questions’ under its code of conduct and that it would request further information about the cases before taking action.It added that it would speak to the BBC Trust about wider issues arising from recent findings that there was a “systematic failure” in the way TV channels have run premium rate phone services.In the House of Commons, Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman said the government were ‘strong supporters of the BBC’.”It is of course important they have the trust of all their viewers but…this is not just an issue for the BBC but across all broadcasters,” she added.In response to Conservative MP Andrew Mackay saying people had ‘lost trust in the BBC’, Harman replied: “We know the BBC is acting on this, we support them in their actions.”Broadcasting union Bectu has warned that junior production staff should not become targets in the inquiry.General secretary Gerry Morrissey said: “This situation is of senior management’s making.We will strongly defend any of our members who are disciplined because the problem lies at the top.”Jeremy Dear, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said staff shortages and short-term contracts across the industry were to blame for ‘cutting corners’.Thompson has outlined a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to future lapses in editorial judgement.All phone-related competitions on BBC TV and radio ceased from midnight on Wednesday, while interactive and online competitions will be taken down as soon as possible.Thompson has also ordered an independent inquiry into footage that wrongly implied the Queen walked out of a photo session.The BBC Trust said it was “deeply concerned that significant failures of control and compliance within the BBC have compromised the BBC’s values of accuracy and honesty”.Other measures outlined in Thompson’s action plan include mandatory training for 16 500 staff.He has also called for a workshop involving other broadcasters to discuss issues surrounding editorial standards and training.BBC