John Birt describes episode to MPs as ‘one of the biggest crimes in the history of broadcasting’
The deceit employed by Martin Bashir to land his sensational 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales has been branded “one of the biggest crimes in the history of broadcasting” by John Birt, the BBC’s director general at the time.
Lord Birt, giving testimony to an inquiry by the House of Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee, said the lengths Bashir went to convince Diana and subsequently lie to bosses about his actions represented a “one-in-100-year occurrence of having a rogue reporter willing to deceive on this scale”.
