Ex-BBC chief accuses British Govt of intimidation | ABC (Australia)

[Ediacara]

Last Update: Sunday, February 1, 2004. 10:39pm (AEDT)

Ex-BBC chief accuses British Govt of intimidation


Former BBC director general Greg Dyke. (BBC)

A bitter row between the British government and the BBC exploded back into life on Sunday as the BBC's outgoing head accused the government of trying regularly to "intimidate" the state-funded broadcaster.

Throughout the Iraq war, Prime Minister Tony Blair's then-information chief Alastair Campbell would fire off repeated written "rants" complaining about the BBC's news coverage, former director general Greg Dyke said.

"What Alastair Campbell was clearly trying to do was intimidate the BBC so that we reported what he wanted us to report as opposed to what we wanted to report," an angry Mr Dyke said in an interview on BBC television.

Mr Dyke resigned on Thursday following the publication of an official report into the suicide of government weapons expert Dr David Kelly, which criticised the BBC while almost totally exonerating the government.

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[lcordero]

1. lol

Seems that it isn't wise to mess with the BBC. Even when the BBC loses, it still wins.