The former Tory wrongly linked to a child sex abuse scandal because of a botched Newsnight investigation is poised to reach a settlement with the BBC.
Lord McAlpine's lawyers are in talks with the corporation and they have indicated they could agree terms as early as today.
His solicitor has also warned anyone who named the peer on Twitter "we know who you are" and revealed specialist firms had recorded each offending post.
The peer took legal action against the BBC after the programme led to him being mistakenly implicated in a paedophile ring that targeted a Welsh care home.
Although Newsnight did not name him and only referred to a senior Conservative from the Thatcher era, it quickly led to him being identified online.
The fallout fuelled an existing crisis at the corporation sparked by the Jimmy Savile abuse allegations and led to the resignation of director-general George Entwistle.
The Newsnight show led to George Entwistle (L) quitting as director-general Indications of an early settlement came as Lord McAlpine spoke directly about the affair for the first time, and said it had left him devastated.
He pointed out that the whole situation could have been avoided if BBC investigators had called him before airing the claims.
"They could have saved themselves a lot of agonising, and money actually, if they had just made that telephone call," he told BBC Radio 4's The World At One.
"They should have called me and I would have told them exactly what they learned later on - that it was complete rubbish and that I had only ever been to Wrexham once in my life."
He added: "It gets into your bones, it makes you angry, and that's extremely bad for you to be angry, and it gets into your soul and you just think there is something wrong with the world."
Lord McAlpine's solicitor Andrew Reid indicated he is seeking a smaller payout because of the inevitable impact on the British public.
"Lord McAlpine is more than aware that the ultimate people who will paying for any monies that he may receive are in fact the licence payers, the people who really own the BBC," he said.
The BBC was already in turmoil because of the Jimmy Savile scandal "He is very much aware of this and hence any agreement that is reached is tempered in the light of that."
He also urged those who had named the peer on Twitter to apologise, saying: "We know exactly the extent of what you have done. It's easiest to come forward, because that is the cheapest and best way."
An official report into the Newsnight programme, published this week, concluded staff had failed to complete "basic journalistic checks" ahead of the show on November 2.
It contained an interview with Steve Messham, an abuse victim who claimed that a senior political figure of the time had abused him.
He was not shown a picture of the man he pinpointed and, although legal advice was sought over the report, no right of reply was given to Lord McAlpine.
There was also confusion about the chain of command and who had ultimate responsibility for signing off the show because editors had stepped aside in the wake of the Savile scandal.
After rampant speculation prompted the peer to issue an extraordinary statement protesting his innocence, Mr Messham was shown a picture and confirmed he had made a mistake.
Newsnight made a full, on air apology for the broadcast and its own presenters openly wondered whether the flagship programme would now face the axe.
Mr Entwistle stood down on Saturday and BBC director of news Helen Boaden and her deputy Stephen Mitchell have stepped aside while the inquiries take their course.
Acting director general Tim Davie has vowed to "get a grip of the situation".
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Lord McAlpine Poised To Settle With The BBC
Dengan url
http://gagalcoba.blogspot.com/2012/11/lord-mcalpine-poised-to-settle-with-bbc.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Lord McAlpine Poised To Settle With The BBC
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Lord McAlpine Poised To Settle With The BBC
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar