BBC admits bias over Cardinal abuse report

BY SIMON CALD WELL
THF, BBC has apologised to a Catholic journalist for the way in which it manipulated a programme to attack Cardinal Comae Murphy-O'Connor.
Clifford Longley said the personal letter of apology from Fraser Steel, BBC head of complaints, was the first recognition that the campaign against Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor by the Today programme had "crossed the line of acceptable journalism".
Mr Longley, a former religious affairs correspondent with The Times and The Daily Telegraph, accused the BBC of a "serious abuse of impartiality" in its manipulation of a programme of November 26 in which he agreed to be interviewed.
Mr Longley was promised the programme would be broadcast live but crucial parts of his argument about an alleged act of sexual misconduct by a priest were edited out. Mr Longley had pointed out that the case did not involve child abuse but a "homosexual advance that went wrong".
But the BBC uncritically invited Michele Elliott of the anti-bullying charity Kidscapc to demand the Cardinal's resignation.
Mr Steel, in his letter to Mr Longley,
accepted that the BBC was guilty of bias but he said the question of "motives" was beyond his remit.
Mr Longley said he now intended to act on Mr Steel's advice to pursue the matter further through the BBC Governor's own complaints committee.
Today reporter Angus Stickler has since won a Sony radio award for the programmes he made about Continued on Page Two