Doesn’t BBC DG Mark Thompson sound a tad defensive?
Mark Thompson, the BBC director-general, has suggested criticism of its faked wildlife programme scenes had been fuelled by newspapers’ bitterness over the corporation’s coverage of the phone hacking inquiry. Mr Thompson questioned whether condemnation of misleading footage of polar bears in its Frozen Planet show had been influenced by the BBC’s comprehensive reporting of the Leveson inquiry into press standards. “I do rather wonder whether this is really about polar bears or about Lord Leveson and other matters,” he told MPs.
It’s about truth, Mr Thompson. Is that such a hard concept to embrace? Attenborough misled and has been caught out – it is as simple as that. Trying to deflect everything onto Leveson smacks of desperation to me.