Savile report finds 'chaos and confusion' at BBC
Nick Polland, head of the inquiry into Newsnight and the BBC
"Newsnight's inquiry into Jimmy Savile last year set off a chain of events that was to prove eventually disastrous for the BBC. It led to one of the worst management crises in the BBC's history and contributed to further chaos that led eventually to the resignation of the Director General a few weeks later over the McAlpine affair."
"The Newsnight investigators got the story right, they had found clear and compelling evidence that Jimmy Savile was a paedophile. The decision by their editor to drop the investigation was clearly flawed and the way it was taken was wrong. Though I believe it was done in good faith. It was not done to protect Savile tribute programme or for any improper reason. The Newsnight editor's most serious mistake was that he didn't look properly at the evidence before deciding to drop the story. It is not surprising therefore that he didn't understand the evidence that he had and that was to cause enormous confusion in the months to come."