BBC Trust chief accused of 'obstruction and secrecy'

Lord Patten criticised by MPs for blocking publication of documents relating to corporation's failed £100m IT projectMPs have accused the BBC Trust chairman, Lord Patten, of "obstruction and secrecy" for stopping the corporation publishing key documents about a failed £100m IT project.Patten ordered the corporation not to disclose sensitive material in response to a freedom of information request from the Guardian, warning its release would cause damage and prompt a "trial by media".The BBC had been asked to publish briefing material prepared for the former director general Mark Thompson before he gave evidence to parliament in 2011. MPs later claimed that BBC executives' statements "just weren't true".The BBC's ambitious Digital Media Initiative (DMI) was designed to do away with videotape and digitise the BBC's archives, but it was axed in May 2013, wasting £98.4m of licence fee-payers' money.Thompson, now chief executive of the New York Times, has been recalled to parliament in the new year to answer claims he misled parliament by claiming the scheme was already up and running when it wasn't. He later said he gave evidence "honestly and in good faith" based on information from his executives.In a rare personal intervention, Patten said the BBC should withhold the briefing material because it could result in a "partial and potentially incoherent picture" and cause damage to "various accountability mechanisms in place".Patten said in a letter to the Guardian: "There is... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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