BBC Director General - George Entwistle -RESIGNS

I'm surprised no one has criticised Mark Thompson in any from, he seems to have got off quite lightly. A lot of this stuff was going on while he was in post including the Savile Newsnight report being pulled. I know he's no longer at the BBC, but surely he is answerable in some form to the Culture, Media and Sport select committee?

Maybe with the multiplicity of channels and responsibilities, including World Service and S4C, the job needs splitting anyway. A lead journalist to act as Editor in Chief and a Corporate Manager to oversee the structure.

Indeed, House, time to make a solid, credible decision for DG is crucial.

Safe to assume Annita will be doing the special - she's been covering story this evening going from interview to interview with ease and keeping a cool head with great questions. She's an excellent journalist, especially with breaking news.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p5p5g

Exactly. Had the printed press run such a report all that they'd be is an apology at the bottom of page 19 and apart from the Guardian no other paper would probably report it. I really don't think this required the resignation of the top man at all and Newsnight and the BBC is being made the scapegoat for the whole saga to deflect the fact that actually the whole of Fleet Street probably knew what was going on with Jimmy Saville for years but kept quiet.

That said George Entwhistle hasn't handled the event too well at all (though it all happening before he'd got his feet under the table that is no surprise) and what the BBC really needs is somebody who stands up for the BBC and their employees, something which should have happened in this case. I think his actions over the last couple of days might have meant he'd lost the trust of the newsroom anyway.

Also where has the BBC Trust been throughout all this. I thought that was created to effectively be the independent regulator of the BBC but it seems to have been BBC management themselves arranging all the various inquiries in recent weeks. The Director General has effectively been having to both ask and answer the questions in this situation and ultimately take responsibility for something he didn't have any responsibility for. I guess under the next DG we'll have to wait a few days for any news to be reported so the DG can personally sign off any reports.

'A report on the resignation of the BBC's director general George Entwistle'.

I wonder if Anita McVeigh will present it, if she does - it must be her first time on BBC1.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kate Silverton stays to do it, but Annita is excellent with breaking news - and she gets quite a bit of practice on it on the weekend evening shift which has seen a few major stories break in the past couple of years (RBS Bonuses and Met Police Commissioner come to mind)


She's done The Politics Show news before one week when it didn't air until mid afternoon

Anita McVeigh just whispering 'Autocue please'.

Lucky you, bloomin' Virgin is useless at updating but that's a different story.

As with all the incidents some big statement has to be made to help turn the corner, and in this case it seems George's responses simply weren't good enough - he was clinging on prior to this weeks' debacle.

Mark Thompson must have made one of the best timed exits ever although you do wonder how he'd have handled it (not that he or the BBC were particularly proactive during the Ross/Brand affair).

I imagine there's a few in BBC News miffed about the timing tonight. Fair enough if you're waiting for the BBC One bulletin to end to avoid maximum publicity (although why schedule it at the same time, didn't realise it was on earlier tonight?) but at least wait for your news channel not to have to crash into it.

And as to ITV News getting the news first...sheesh!

So is the bulletin going to be branded 'BBC News, News' .

Entwistle has resigned not because of the Savile/Newsnight report from last year. But for what happened last Friday on Newsnight which was completely under his watch. His performance on Today and Breakfast this morning didn't help him.

Kate Silverton's doing it if I read and understand her tweet correctly