Former fat cat at the BBC Mark Thompson lost his temper when reporters from a Channel 4 TV crew collared him in New York where he is CEO of the New York Times. Well if anyone knows the power of the media its Thompson.
Thompson and his buddies have been trying to keep the lid on their part in the Jimmy Savile scandal. So when reporters from a British Film Crew making a documentary on Savile approached him he totally lost his cool.
Thompson is due back in the UK to answer questions about corrupt severance payments paid for by the British TV licence payers to his cronies. His salary at the BBC was a shocking £834 thousand a year.
The New York Post reported that New York Times Co. CEO Mark Thompson got into an
angry exchange with a British TV crew outside his Upper West Side
apartment. The confrontation erupted when reporters asked British-born
Thompson, former BBC director general, about the late BBC radio and TV
personality Jimmy Savile, who allegedly sexually abused hundreds of
children from 1955 to 2009.
Thompson, who moved to New York to
join the Gray Lady last November, screamed at a UK Channel 4 news crew
last month, according to a witness, who tells us the British station is
working on an exposé on Savile. Thompson was the chief executive of
Channel 4 before he took over at the BBC from 2004 to September 2012.
“I saw a cameraman and a reporter speaking to Thompson outside his
apartment before rush hour,” says the source. “He was tense and angry
and was talking very loudly. They followed him around the corner and he
lost his temper and shouted at them. It really caused a scene.” The
source added, “Someone needs to tell him that we can do without this
kind of scene happening in the neighborhood.”
A rep for the Times
insists we have the story wrong, stating, “A number of weeks ago, there
was a crew waiting for Mark on the street near his apartment. He spoke
to them as he walked to the subway. Perhaps he spoke loudly — they were
on a busy Upper West Side street during rush hour, after all. However,
it was the interviewer who lost his temper, so much so that the producer
had to stop the filming.” The rep concedes, “Our understanding is that
the interviewer was working on behalf of Channel 4 and the questions
were regarding Savile.”
Thompson is due back in England next month
to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to answer questions
about more than $1 million in severance payments that were made to BBC
executives, exceeding contractual obligations, during his time in charge
of the organization. The Times rep said, “Mark is testifying in
Parliament on Sept. 9.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We welcome all points of view but do not publish malicious comments. We would love to hear from you if you want to e-mail us with tips, information or just chat e-mail talkingtous@hotmail.co.uk