Former BBC Head Says He Had No Role in Squelching Program

Mark Thompson, the former head of the British Broadcasting Corporation who has been drawn into the scandal involving allegations of sexual abuse against the former television personality Jimmy Savile, reiterated that he was not aware of an investigative report prepared for the BBC program “Newsnight” into Savile’s behavior until after the investigation was canceled. Thompson, who is also the incoming chief executive of The New York Times Company, said that he was made aware that “Newsnight” had been investigating Savile only during a conversation with a reporter at a company holiday party last December. Thompson said that he did not ask the reporter about the specifics of the investigation but that he did follow up the next day with two officials from BBC News.