George Entwistle
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

George Edward Entwistle (born 8 July 1962) was
Director-General of the BBC The director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation is chief executive and (from 1994) editor-in-chief of the BBC. The position was formerly appointed by the Board of Governors of the BBC (for the period of 1927 to 2007) and then the ...
during 2012, succeeding Mark Thompson. After a career in magazine journalism, he joined
BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
in 1989, becoming a producer with a primary focus in factual and political programmes. He rose to become the director of
BBC Vision BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 1 ...
, and became the Director-General of the BBC on 17 September 2012. Entwistle resigned as Director-General on 10 November 2012, following controversy over a ''
Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...
'' report which falsely implicated
Lord McAlpine Robert Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green (14 May 1942 – 17 January 2014) was a British businessman, politician and author who was an advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. McAlpine was descended from the McAlpine baronets ...
in the
North Wales child abuse scandal The North Wales child abuse scandal was the subject of a three-year, £13 million investigation into the physical and sexual abuse of children in care homes in the counties of Clwyd and Gwynedd, in North Wales, including the Bryn Estyn children's ...
. His resignation after just 54 days in the role made him the shortest serving Director-General in the history of the BBC.


Early life

Entwistle was born on 8 July 1962, the son of Philip and Wendy Entwistle. He was educated at
Silcoates School Silcoates School is a co-educational independent school in the village of Wrenthorpe near Wakefield, England. The school was founded in 1820 as the Northern Congregational School at Silcoates House, for the board and education of the sons of Non ...
, an
independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...
for boys (now co-educational), in the village of
Wrenthorpe Wrenthorpe is a village north-west of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It is located in the Rhubarb Triangle. History Although earlier remains, such as Roman coins and pottery, have been found in the area, the current settlement dates f ...
, near
Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
in
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
. He then went on to study at the
University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...
(
University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...
) in the city of
Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...
in north-east England, from which he graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
(Hons) in Philosophy and Politics, in 1983.


Career


Publishing

From 1984 to 1989, Entwistle worked as a writer and editor at Haymarket Magazines. In particular, he worked as editor of '' New HiFi Sound'', as well as reviewing
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
.


Broadcasting

In 1989, Entwistle joined the
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
as a
broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...
trainee. From 1990 to 1992, he was an Assistant Producer on ''
Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...
''. In January 1993, he became one of the Producers of the
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
Sunday politics show '' On The Record''. Between 1994 and 1999, he held the positions of producer, assistant editor, and finally deputy editor at
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
's ''
Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...
''. He became deputy editor of BBC One's ''
Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...
'' in 1999. After two years in the science department of the BBC, he returned to ''Newsnight'' as the deputy editor. He was promoted to editor of ''Newsnight'' on 10 September 2001 and served in that position until 2004. During his tenure, the show won five
Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...
awards, including Best News Programme, and a Broadcast Award, and was nominated for the Best News Programme BAFTA.


Broadcasting executive

In 2004, Entwistle was appointed executive editor of Topical Arts on BBC Two and
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
. In November of that year, he launched ''
The Culture Show ''The Culture Show'' is a British magazine programme about books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts. The show was broadcast weekly on BBC Two between 2004 and 2015. Early history Launched in November 2004, th ...
'' on BBC Two. In late 2005, he was appointed Head of Television Current Affairs at the BBC. From May to December 2007, he was the Acting Controller of
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
in place of
Janice Hadlow Janice Vivienne Hadlow (born November 1957) in Lewisham is a former BBC television executive. She was the controller of the BBC television channel BBC Two, taking over this position in November 2008 having previously been controller of BBC Four. At ...
. In January 2008, he became the Controller of Knowledge Commissioning. He was responsible for commissioning 1600 hours of TV programmes across BBC One, Two, Three and Four each year, and was in overall control of the BBC's online factual and learning content. On 27 April 2011, he was appointed Director of BBC Vision. In the role he was responsible for the television channels BBC One, BBC Two,
BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
, BBC Four,
BBC One HD BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
and
BBC HD BBC HD was a 24-hour high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast ...
, and the feature film-making arm of the BBC,
BBC Films BBC Film (formerly BBC Films) is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including ''Truly, Madly, Deeply'', '' Alan Part ...
.


Director-General of the BBC

On 4 July 2012, the Chairman of the
BBC Trust The BBC Trust was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between 2007 and 2017. It was operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and its stated aim was to make decisions in the best interests of ...
, Lord Patten, announced that Entwistle had been appointed to succeed Mark Thompson as Director-General of the BBC. He took up the post on 17 September 2012. Entwistle described himself as the "right person for the job".
Following Entwistle's departure
Greg Dyke Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a British media executive, football administrator, journalist, and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has had a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing ' ...
, a previous Director-General who had himself been persuaded to resign under controversial circumstances, offered his insights on the Entwistle affair: :"...you have to go back six years to when
Tessa Jowell Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Baroness Jowell, (; 18 September 1947 – 12 May 2018) was a British Labour Party politician and life peer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dulwich and West Norwood, previously Dulwich, from 199 ...
.... lumbered the BBC with a new governance system that everyone told her wouldn’t work." When Lord Patten was appointed five years later, :"...it was clear, to me at least, that he was working out how he could be an all-powerful BBC chairman. First, he announced publicly that the successful and experienced existing director-general, Mark Thompson, would be leaving sooner than planned. Then he manoeuvred into Thompson’s place George Entwistle, someone with limited managerial experience and no experience of dealing with a crisis." To compensate for Entwistle's shortcomings Patten, :"...would guide and help his inexperienced protégé. As it turned out, Patten wasn’t exactly standing alongside George on the barricades when it all went wrong. And, as a result, young Entwistle was hung out to dry, his career effectively destroyed..... He wasn’t given the support from above that he needed and deserved."Greg Dyke
The BBC can get out of this hole
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
, 23 November 2012
Only a matter of weeks into Entwistle's tenure as Director-General, the BBC became embroiled in the
Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal It emerged in late 2012 that Jimmy Savile, an English media personality who had died the previous year, sexually abused hundreds of people throughout his life, most of them children but some as old as 75, and most of them female. He had been we ...
. On 23 October 2012, Entwistle faced the
Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, formerly the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, is one of the select committees of the British House of Commons, established in 1997. It oversees the operations of the Department fo ...
over questions the BBC had failed to broadcast a ''
Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...
'' investigation into sexual abuse allegations against Savile after the presenter's death in 2011. Entwistle was accused by Lisa O'Carroll of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' of giving a "less than authoritative performance, showing a lack of curiosity about Newsnight's investigation" and "leaving the impression of a director general not entirely in command of his operation." Entwistle resigned as BBC Director-General on 10 November 2012, following controversy over a ''Newsnight'' report which indirectly and incorrectly implicated
Lord McAlpine Robert Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green (14 May 1942 – 17 January 2014) was a British businessman, politician and author who was an advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. McAlpine was descended from the McAlpine baronets ...
in the
North Wales child abuse scandal The North Wales child abuse scandal was the subject of a three-year, £13 million investigation into the physical and sexual abuse of children in care homes in the counties of Clwyd and Gwynedd, in North Wales, including the Bryn Estyn children's ...
. A particularly devastating interview with Entwistle by
John Humphrys Desmond John Humphrys (born 17 August 1943) is a Welsh broadcaster. From 1981 to 1987 he was the main presenter for the '' Nine O'Clock News'', the flagship BBC News television programme, and from 1987 until 2019 he presented on the BBC Radio 4 ...
on that morning's BBC Radio 4 ''Today'' programme was possibly the immediate factor in his resignation, as it appeared from the interview that he had no intention of resigning when Humphrys put the issue to him. Entwistle said that ''Newsnight'' had been wrong to broadcast the report, and that he had been aware of it only after it had been broadcast. He commented "In the light of the unacceptable journalistic standards of the Newsnight film broadcast on Friday 2 November, I have decided that the honourable thing to do is to step down from the post of director general." Entwistle was publicly supported by
Jeremy Paxman Jeremy Dickson Paxman (born 11 May 1950) is an English broadcaster, journalist, author, and television presenter. Born in Leeds, Paxman was educated at Malvern College and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he edited the undergraduate ne ...
, Michael Crick, John Ware,
Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
and
Ben Bradshaw Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw (born 30 August 1960) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport from 2009 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Exeter since 1 ...
.


Personal life

In 1992, Entwistle married Jane Porter in
Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...
. They have a son (born 1994) and daughter (born 1996). In 2013, Entwistle enrolled as a Master's student at
St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is the newest college admitting both undergraduate and graduate students. Tracing its roots back to 1868 (although th ...
, studying the history of design.


References


External links


BBC biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Entwistle, George 1962 births Alumni of University College, Durham BBC executives BBC Four controllers BBC television producers People educated at Silcoates School People from Wakefield Living people