The BBC journalist who exposed Jimmy Savile’s sickening child sex crimes will be sharing his story at The International Anthony Burgess Foundation in Manchester next month.
Meirion Jones, former head of investigations at BBC2’s Newsnight, is an investigative journalist best known for revealing the years of child abuse Savile got away with.
Immediately after Savile’s death in October 2011, Jones began an investigation for Newsnight into reports that Savile was a paedophile.
Then Newsnight editor Peter Rippon pulled the plug on the documentary, however, with the BBC instead opting to broadcast a tribute to Savile, who at the time, was thought to have abused hundreds of children spanning decades.
The decision of the BBC to pull the Newsnight investigation led to a major crisis in the public trust of the corporation, made worse by the eventual findings of The Pollard Review.
This review found that Mr Jones had unearthed convincing evidence of Savile’s abuse and that the programme, if broadcast, could have exposed Savile in 2011.
Mr Jones’ efforts to expose Savile and the attempts of the BBC to mask the crimes of the Jim’ll Fix It presenter led to him parting company with – the corporation for which he had worked for 26 years during a time where advocates of Savile being exposed were branded traitors.
His investigation also sparked the still ongoing Operation Yewtree into historic sex offences and allegations of abuse.
In 2013, Jones won the London Press Awards Scoop of the Year prize for his part in the investigation into Jimmy Savile and now he will share his story to a Manchester audience in a talk themed ‘brave choices’.
The talk will be the second in the ‘Anotherway Now’ series which was a creation of training and development company Anotherway Associates Ltd.
Company director Phil Brisk believes the initiative offers as much to his team as it does to their consumers.
“We created ‘Anotherway Now’ as a way for us as much as anyone else to grow and learn through listening to, and talking with, a range of intelligent, honest, good-hearted individuals who each have an interesting take on life,” he said.
“It is an opportunity for us to talk to some very interesting and inspiring people.
“We want to share that.”
Mireia Uranga Arakistain, co-nominee for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, was one of three speakers to feature at the programme’s debut in September and its success has led to the event now becoming a bi-monthly event.
Mr Jones’ talk will be held on November 19 from 7:30pm to 10pm at The International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Chorlton Mill.
Tickets can be bought here.
