For Mark Thompson, as Director General of the BBC, 2012 was all about the Olympics and finding the next job, with the best CV possible. On 12 November that year, he started work as CEO of the New York Times. On 23 November he was interviewed by Nick Pollard, barrister Alan Maclean, and Dame Janet Smith; Mr Thompson's lawyers were Schillings. In his opening statement, Mark went pretty quickly to the key issue, as he saw it. "If I had known, or suspected, that Savile was a paedophile and rapist, I would have acted on the information".
Mr Thompson recalls being approached by BBC correspondent Caroline Hawley at a Christmas drinks do on 20th December 2011, and quotes her thus. "You must be worried about the Newsnight investigation into Jimmy Savile". But he can't remember his answer, beyond "I think I was very non-committal". Later he says "I subsequently addressed it with the people I believed to be the right people, Helen Boaden and BBC News, received reassurance, and indeed got the sense the whole matter was closed, crossed it off my list and went off to worry about something else". He managed to remain unaware of stories about this issue in The Oldie and Sunday Mirror, and FOI inquiries during most of 2012, until September, when his office sent lawyer's letters to the Sunday Times in a bid to block a story that he and Helen Boaden had worked together to suppress the Newsnight investigation.
The Pollard interview with Helen Boaden pivots on another half-remembered conversation, between her and George Entwistle, at an awards lunch on 2 December, when she tipped him off about the Newsnight/Savile investigation. She confesses she can't recall her exact words, but says "Common sense suggests I said it was about underage sex or something similar. But because I can't remember, I think it is unfair to say that I can". In 189 pages of transcript there's barely a reference to Mark Thompson, and no questions about discussions with him post the Hawley tip-off.
Helen put that right, as it were, in a letter to Pollard after reviewing the draft report. We don't have the full letter, but it said she had actually informed Mark Thompson "of the nature of the Newsnight investigation". Helen further explained to MPs in April this year that her memory had been jogged that she'd received a phone call from Thommo while he was on a visit to Salford.
"He asked me what I knew about an investigation by Newsnight into Jimmy Savile. It was not unusual for Mark to make contact with me over a story he had picked up on through an informal route, and as Editor in Chief he could be expected to take an interest in BBC News investigations. My recollection is that I told Mark what I knew: that Newsnight had been investigating thirty year old allegations of sexual abuse of teenage girls by Jimmy Savile at an Approved School in Surrey. The Editor did not think the allegations stood up so had discontinued the investigation for legitimate editorial reasons. I added that the Surrey Police had looked at the case more recently and decided not to pursue it. Mark thanked me and rang off. We did not discuss it again."
Given that this is in writing, to Parliament, it looks a pretty firm recollection. Pollard's position seems to be that he prefers Thompson's recollection, and thus won't change his findings. Many think it should be at least amended, especially the bit where he says "I have no reason to doubt what he [Thompson] told me".
- A property mag in the States has revealed that Thommo has a housing project on his hands. He and his wife have bought a $3.4m four bedroom apartment in New York's Upper West Side. On the ninth-floor of a 12-storey block built in 1910, it has some original features, including a non-functioning gas fireplace and some stained glass windows. The couple apparently told the seller "We can see the treasure in a dilapidated castle".
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