Quote:
Originally Posted by danielf
I can see where you're coming from, but I'm also wondering how much of that should be seen in the context of the time. I'm not trying to condone what happened in any way, but I'm not convinced (as yet) that things were particularly bad at the BBC compared to other organisations. The reality is that Savile abused children in several organisations not just the BBC. Let's also not forget the abuse in the Catholic Church, and recently the US boy scouts. Then there's John Peel who legally married a 15 year old in the 60s.
Once again, I'm not condoning anything, but I think we should also be careful to exclusively chastise the BBC. I think that the fact this was allowed to happen was at least partly an indication of wider society at the time, and we shouldn't lose track of that.
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Quite right - and by focusing on the BBC I don't mean to minimise any of the other awful things that were going on. I'm appalled and sickened at Haut le Garenne's re-emergence into the limelight, for example, and the implication that it was operating as some sort of paedo pick'n'mix operation. It just so happens that the BBC is the institution under the spotlight this week.
However, whatever may be the case about the acceptability of "groupie culture" (or "gropie culture" as Janet Street Porter dubbed it) in the 1970s, I find it troubling that Peter Rippon appeared to be exhibiting those same attitudes as recently as last December.