BBC eats entire Humble Pie

The BBC's reporting of its own humiliation has been exemplary in its scrupulous balance. As one newspaper put it, that alone should go along way to repairing the battered reputation of BBC News.

But the report raises a number of serious questions about the nature of journalism - particularly investigative journalism - and the role of an independent but state funded broadcaster such as the BBC.

Does Lord Hutton understand the nature of news, or journalism? Apparently not. As a lawyer, his every statement would have been scrutinised, checked over a dozen times, compared with original sources and then checked again before being made public. Andrew Gilligan on the other hand would have been expected to produce stories for TV and radio news bulletins every hour on the hour along with longer feature items for use in programmes. If he had said to the News Editor, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I haven't considered all the legal ramifications of this story yet, it will be ready the Tuesday after next", he would not have lasted long as a reporter. There's no doubt that Gilligan's notes of his conversations with Dr Kelly left something to be desired in terms of a legal document - but if he's anything like me as a journalist, his notes are an aide-memoire, not a full and word-perfect account of every word spoken. I'm not saying the BBC or Andrew Gilligan were blameless - but they were not solely to blame. As I write this, it has just been announced that Gilligan has resigned. He admitted he made mistakes - but defended the bulk of his story. He says the BBC's punishment is 'far out of proportion to its or my mistakes, which were honest ones'.

The fact that Lord Hutton wants an inquiry into how the tabloid newspaper The Sun got hold of a leaked copy of the report more than 24 hours ahead of its publication seems to show he fails to understand the nature of the news media. Did he honestly think he could sit on one of the biggest stories of the year and nobody would be curious enough to sneak a peak early? Are the public best served by a media who does exactly what the authorities want, all the time, without questioning?

And what of the BBC's future? If you were a journalist working for the Corporation, would you take on the Government even if

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