Turf War

George Entwistle, BBC Director General, was given a real grilling this morning on the Today programme by John Humphrys, his nominal underling, over the disastrous fallout from Newsnight broadcasting the implication of a serious Tory involved in the child abuse scandal in north Wales.  The ferocity was rarely displayed towards even politicians, but Humphrys was full of incredulous rat-a-tat-tat.  Would this be because the editor of Today, Ceri Thomas, was passed over to become director-general, especially after Entwistle’s poor handling of the BBC’s coverage of the Diamond Jubilee (some would say that a weak grasp of priorities has continued into his director-generalship)?  Will Incurious George’s tenure be the shortest yet and will Thomas ‘step into the breach’ to save the BBC?  It seems more scripted than an edition of Have I Got News For You.