Thompson flies in from New York Times to give evidence to closed-door Savile inquiry
Mark Thompson, newly installed president of the New York Times, has flown to London to give evidence to the Nick Pollard inquiry on why BBC Newsnight cancelled a report into alleged sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile .
Thompson: Testimony in London
The New York Times has confirmed the trip by Thompson, who was Director general of the BBC when the Savile exposé was cancelled. He gave evidence behind closed doors on Friday, thought to be for a couple of hours. But more may be required, "given the detailed, legalistic approach that the Pollard inquiry is taking," said the Guardian. Thompson is "taking a couple of days of enforced leave from his new job," said the paper.
The hearings are being held at the offices of Reed Smith in central London. Pollard has said he now expects to complete the inquiry by mid-December, rather than late November.
Thompson faces questions by inquiry counsel Alan Maclean QC – who advised Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell during the Hutton inquiry – over what precisely he knew about allegations of child sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile.
He may be asked why he verbally agreed to sending out a legal letter to the Sunday Times in September denying any part in suppressing the Newsnight film and threatening to sue the paper for libel if he was accused of editorial interference.
Thompson verbally agreed to the letter going out, but says he did not recall ever reading it or if he was shown it.He has said he had no knowledge of the Savile allegations until October when ITV's documentary on Savile was broadcast.
Advisers to Thompson say the idea behind sending out the letter came from the BBC's press and legal departments, and that its purpose was only to deny that the director general had exerted any pressure on Newsnight to drop the Savile film.
They say that the letter was aimed at reinforcing earlier denials of executive interference in the Newsnight film – and did not imply that Thompson knew more about Savile than previously admitted.
An article in the New York Times last week referred to the letter. The letter, said the NYT report " shows Thompson was involved in an aggressive action to challenge an article about the case that was likely to reflect poorly on the BBC and on him.
Pollard, the former head of Sky News, said the inquiry has received 40 written submissions and conducted 12 interviews so far, with more to follow. Several thousands documents are involved and more are being provided.
Thompson, said the New York Times, was the director general of the BBC in December 2011 when the corporation’s flagship “Newsnight” current-affairs program cancelled an investigation into accusations of abuse against the television host Savile who died two months earlier . .
Thompson, 55, assumed his new post at The New York Times on Nov. 12.
Robert Christie, a senior vice president for corporate communications for The New York Times Company, confirmed Thompson's appearance on Friday in an e-mail in response to an inquiry from The Guardian..
According to the Wall Street Journal, he couldn't discuss the contents of Thompson's testimony, only saying that he was expected to return to New York by Monday.
Nick Pollard, said the NYT, is a former head of Sky News, "a channel controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation".
The New York Times article last week said that there were moments during Thompson’s final months at the BBC — involving brief conversations and articles appearing in London news media — when he might have picked up on the gravity of the Savile case.