Helen Boaden, the BBC's director of news, and Stephen Mitchell, deputy head of news, have stepped down from their roles, marking the latest scalps to be claimed from the scandal engulfing the BBC.
Boaden and Mitchell, her deputy, have stepped down pending the outcome of an internal review. Their exits follow the departure of George Entwistle, BBC director general, on Saturday. BBC chairman Chris Patten, meanwhile, is fighting to keep his job.
Boaden was director of BBC News and Entwistle was director of BBC Vision when the decision was taken not to broadcast allegations against Jimmy Savile last year. Fran Unsworth, head of newsgathering, and Ceri Thomas, editor of BBC's Radio 4 flagship Today program are filling their roles in the interim.
Savile, who died last year, is accused of preying on teenage girls during his years as a celebrity presenter at the BBC.
Mark Thompson served as the BBC's director general from June 2004 to this September. He took over as CEO of The New York Times Co. this week. Edelman UK boss Ed Williams is handling Thompson's personal PR as the scandal continues to gain media attention.
Tim Davie, the acting director general of the BBC and a former PepsiCo marketer, is scheduled to lay out his plans for rebuilding trust in the corporation on Monday. The BBC is expected to disclose more details shortly.
This story originally appeared in MediaWeek, PRWeek's sister publication under Haymarket Media.
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