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Summer of Scandals Leaves BBC in Crisis
Top anchor accuses net of 'catastrophic loss of nerve'
By Jason Farago
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Posted Aug 24, 07 1:04 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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The Brits are having a crisis of conscience over the BBC: A summer of scandals has left the BBC's squeaky-clean image compromised. The UK's public broadcaster has aired rigged call-in games, sneakily edited news stories, and credulity-straining reality shows. A leading broadcaster charges the station has suffered "a catastrophic loss of nerve."
Jeremy Paxman, the host of the BBC's flagship show Newsnight, will say in a lecture tonight that the network must stop chasing higher ratings and aping private stations, regaining a sense of "moral drive." Meanwhile, the BBC's director general says in today's Guardian that the scandals have "damaged public trust in us."