JOIN USThe BBC appointed a former journalist who runs the Royal Opera House to lead the broadcaster on Thursday after sex abuse scandals that shook public trust in one of Britain’s most treasured institutions.
Tony Hall, a former a former director of BBC news, will replace George Entwistle who resigned as director-general this month after failing to get to grips with a scandal that threw the 90-year-old state-funded organisation into turmoil.
Chris Patten, chairman of the BBC Trust which overseas the broadcaster and appoints its chief, said Hall was “the right person to lead the BBC out of its current crisis” and that his journalism experience would be “invaluable as the BBC looks to rebuild its reputation.”
Hall, who will take up the role in March, left the BBC shortly after missing out on the top job in 2001. His predecessor lasted just 54 days in the job, widely criticised for lacking leadership amid a scandal centring on the former BBC presenter Jimmy Savile, who died last year and has since been exposed as a predatory serial child abuser.
In early reaction, media analysts greeted the appointment of Hall as a sound choice.