If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Here we are, at BBC Television Centre. It's New Year's Eve, so sadly everybody is off still for Christmas, but we thank-you for tuning in for a celebration of the worst yet most important moments of 2012.
The claim that 16,500 children were at risk of sexual exploitation (and 2,409 actually 'exploited') - notice the shift away from the comparatively precise term 'abuse' - over a period of 14 months was always ludicrous.
If I could have one Christmas wish, it would be for our politicians to stop being too embarrassed to stand by culture and support it for fear of being branded 'elitist'. The Arts are for everyone, and nothing embodies this better than the volunteers who worked tirelessly to create the opening ceremony this summer.
It's no accident that it was Newsnight that played host to the BBC's current and perhaps most fateful car-crash yet. The performance of this now little watched late-night take on the affairs of the day has become a key indicator of the corporation's commitment to its supposed purpose.
Back in the day teenage groupie sex was epidemic. It was the fuel that drove rock and roll. It is not in the same category as the Belgian paedophile rings or the systemic abuse of children by Catholic priests. It just isn't. Celebrities get targeted by wanton teenage girls. I know, because I've been the hunter.
In a period when politicians gaze ardently into the camera while delivering speeches which have been manufactured by slick, up market PR gurus, it is ...
I think the most terrible thing about the whole situation is the complete sense of isolation I felt. It's like I was sitting on this tremendous well of pain, clinging to the edge of it, trying to make sense of it.
By massively overstating the problem of child abuse they are already undermining our relationships with each other and with the institutions in which we might once have invested our trust.
We need to see drastic changes to make sure the abusers who control such vulnerable children for sex and personal gain do not get away with it.
When I was 15 years old, I was groomed, and eventually sexually abused by one of my secondary school teachers, over a three month period. Now, for the first time, and inspired by the bravery of Savile's victims, I feel ready to tell my story, which will be shared here over the next few weeks.
Lord McAlpine has promised to end "trial by Twitter". He has announced an unprecedented series of libel actions against twits who used the website to ...
You'd think after the election last week there would be a bit of a lull in proceedings this week, especially in the States. Oh, hell no.
Yesterday's debate should not have been about the ethnicity and religion of the abuser, nor should it be an opportunity to tarnish an entire community. This is a debate about the vulnerability of victims, let's not forget about them.
A major media scandal has toppled the head of the BBC over the network's handling of two reports on sex abuse, wrongly implicating a politician in one, and killing a report on its own popular BBC host, the late Jimmy Savile.
Child abuse. It's probably best to begin with these two words, lest they are lost in any of the analysis to follow. In fact, recent events have actually been an excellent study in how child abuse, however unwittingly, is enabled, neglected and allowed to continue.
If ITV News' desire for cheap internet traffic has in any way contributed to the death of Elmo, they should be truly ashamed.
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