BBC News Director Steps Aside as Abuse Coverage Scandal Expands

British Broadcasting Corp. said two of the most senior officials at BBC News stepped aside today as the broadcaster investigates a child sex abuse scandal that forced Director General George Entwistle to quit this weekend.

Helen Boaden, director of news, and her deputy, Stephen Mitchell, are stepping aside, the BBC said today in a statement. They will be temporarily replaced by Fran Unsworth and Ceri Thomas.

Entwistle resigned Nov. 10 after a BBC program erroneously implied that a senior politician had molested a young boy. That followed revelations last month that management had failed to stop an alleged pedophile ring operating out of BBC studios and decades of abuse by entertainer Jimmy Savile.

“Consideration is now being given to the extent to which individuals should be asked to account further for their actions and if appropriate disciplinary action will be taken,” the BBC said in the statement.

After the errors were revealed, the 90-year-old media organization that runs the U.K.’s most-watched TV channels was urged by the head of its supervisory body to embark on a “radical overhaul.” London-based BBC said today it “re- establish a single management to deal with all output.”