There were emergency NATO meetings about the war in Ukraine, raging floods from India to Vermont, and record heat waves across America. But this week the BBC aired wall-to-wall coverage of a different story: itself
The confirmation that Hugh Edwards, a prominent BBC presenter, was the unnamed man at the heart of sexual abuse allegations ended days of breathless speculation that consumed Britain’s public broadcaster. Yet it left a sense of unease about the role of the British news media – and its more intrusive cousin, social media – in unmasking the public figure.
Mr Edwards said on Wednesday his wife had been hospitalized with a mental breakdown aggravated by a tabloid newspaper report that he had paid the teenager tens of thousands of pounds for sexually explicit images. Police said they found no evidence Mr Edwards had committed a crime, raising questions about why the BBC devoted airtime or acres of newspaper newsprint to the private lives of the broadcaster’s stars.
The allegations were salacious, to be sure – catnip to the British press – and the BBC was trying to show journalistic integrity by not shying away from embarrassing news about members of its own staff.
But the biggest reason for the saturation coverage, say media executives, editors and analysts, is that Mr Edwards is no ordinary news anchor and the BBC is no ordinary media outlet.
“It’s always at the center of a storm because of its power,” said Howard Stringer, a former chairman of CBS who served on the BBC’s board. “The BBC, like the monarchy, is a symbol of continuity in a polarized society.”
Mr. Edwards, 61, occupies a lofty perch in this singular institution, not unlike Walter Cronkite, the CBS anchor who was once the face and voice of history to millions of Americans. Grey-haired and grave, he broke the news of Queen Elizabeth II’s death last September and then led the BBC’s coverage of King Charles III’s coronation in May. Presenter of the flagship “BBC News at Ten” programme, he is the broadcaster’s go-to journalist for history-making.
“You can’t think of anyone in British journalism at the moment who has captured that sense of consistency,” Mr. Stringer said, Mr. Like Edwards, he was born in Wales.
He said the BBC’s unique status, and the fact that it was financed by a compulsory license fee imposed on most British households, made it a ripe target for politicians and competitors. Even before this episode, the BBC was embroiled in crisis after crisis over the behavior and statements of some of its key figures. It finds itself in political cross hairs, targeted by both the right and the left.
Mr. The drama involving Edwards began last Friday when The Sun, a tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch, reported that an unnamed BBC staffer had paid the teenager £35,000, or more than about $45,000, for candid photos over several years. It started when he was 17 years old.
Under British law, the age of consent is 16, but it is an offense to take, make, share or possess indecent images of anyone under 18.
After initially saying they were looking into whether a crime had been committed, London police said on Wednesday there was no evidence to suggest Mr Edwards had done so. Sun responded that no further allegations would be published. Instead, it said it would hand over its dossier on Mr Edwards to the BBC, which is conducting its own investigation into the matter.
But he criticized that there was damage. Although the paper did not name Mr. Edwards, his identity quickly became an open secret in cyberspace. And while The Sun’s editors said they had never charged a member of staff with a crime, the paper ran a story headlined, “Top BBC star ‘paid child for sex images’ could be charged by police and face years in prison, experts say.”
Along with allegations of pornographic images, the male crew – now Mr. The BBC itself reported on Tuesday that a second young man – identified as Edwards – had sent angry and abusive messages to a man. Dating app.
Mr Edwards’ wife, Vicky Flind, said he would address the situation once he regained his health. But given the unsavory nature of the allegations, it is hard to envisage a return to the anchor chair at the BBC, where he started as a news trainee in 1984. In a statement on behalf of Mr Edwards, his wife said he would receive inpatient care “for the foreseeable future”.
“We have a kangaroo court that destroys someone who didn’t commit a crime,” said Claire Enders, a London-based media analyst. “The BBC got caught up in the food frenzy. It got caught up in the trap set by The Sun.
The BBC, to be sure, complicated its own situation. The broadcaster waited seven weeks after the teenager’s mother filed her initial complaint with its audience services department.
It was only after the Sun approached the broadcaster on 6 July with the mother’s additional allegations that BBC Director General Tim Davey became involved. Mr. Davey later agreed. In this case, he noted, the first complaint, though serious, “does not involve an allegation of a crime.”
Once the BBC acted, critics said it was excessive in its coverage. The allegations led to every news broadcast and were played at the top of the BBC’s website, which also held a comprehensive live briefing. Reporters repeatedly refer to an unnamed “presenter,” even though his identity is well known in the newsroom, at one point the host mistakenly says “have” instead of “who.”
The story overshadowed a NATO summit meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, where Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave a speech on Britain’s military support for Ukraine. On the way to Vilnius, Mr Sunak received more coverage for his comment when he called reports of the payments by a presenter “shocking and concerning”.
“The BBC lost its sense of proportion,” said Alan Rusbridger, former editor of The Guardian. “It feeds into this mentality where it feels that slowness in dealing with problems should be corrected by showing a clean pair of hands in closing them.”
The pressure is particularly acute because of the legacy of comedian and BBC presenter Jimmy Savile, who was exposed as a serial sexual predator after his death in 2011. As a result of that scandal Mr. One of Davy’s predecessors lost his job.
Yet history played a part in the BBC’s refusal to name Mr Edwards. In 2018, British singer Cliff Richard won a privacy case against broadcasters after they aired images of a police raid on his home after he was accused of sexual assault. Mr. Richard was never arrested or charged, and the BBC ended up paying him 2 million pounds ($2.6 million) in compensation.
At the heart of every such story is the question of how to balance an individual’s right to privacy with the public interest in knowing the truth. In the age of Twitter and Facebook, however, it’s an increasingly important exercise. Mr Edwards’ name was trending on Twitter within a day of The Sun’s report.
“This is a particularly problematic case,” Mr Rusbridger said. “He’s a very well-known journalist, and he works in the gossipy industry, so it was inevitable that his name would come out. You just drop enough hints and let Twitter do the rest.
