Ian Trethowan
| Sir Ian Trethowan | |
|---|---|
| Born |
James Ian Raley Trethowan 20 October 1922 High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, UK |
| Died | 12 December 1990 (aged 68) London, England, UK |
| Cause of death | motor neurone disease |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Christ's Hospital School, West Sussex |
| Occupation | political journalist, radio and television presenter, BBC Director-General |
Sir James Ian Raley Trethowan (20 October 1922 – 12 December 1990) was a British journalist, radio and television broadcaster and administrator who eventually became director-general of the BBC from 1 October 1977 to 31 July 1982, having previously been managing director of BBC network radio from 1970 to 1976.
Ian Trethowan was educated at the independent Christ's Hospital school near Horsham in West Sussex, and started work as a journalist and parliamentary lobby correspondent. He became a presenter for Independent Television News in the late 1950s and early 1960s, co-presenting ITN's coverage of the 1959 general election.
Trethowan moved to the BBC around 1963 and was part of Grace Wyndham Goldie's group of heavy hitting journalists which included Richard Dimbleby and Robin Day. He was a regular presenter of political programmes such as Gallery, Panorama and general election and budget specials. He presented the BBC's tribute programme to President John F. Kennedy on the day of his assassination.
A close friend of the former Tory prime minister Sir Edward Heath and a Conservative, Trethowan has been criticised for his support of the Security Service "vetting" of BBC employees which has often been seen as a means of weeding out leftists in the corporation. BBC journalist Tom Mangold has stated that Trethowan had "a close, and editorially unhealthy, relationship with the Security Services" and "directly interfered" with a 1981 investigative documentary about MI5, forming part of "the British Establishment’s protective walls of secrecy" in the 1970s. This emerged in December 2011, when 30-year-old British government papers were released. Trethowan told the press at the time that nobody from the government had seen the film or put pressure on the BBC but in fact he had met the heads of Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), shown them a tape of the programme and invited them to suggest cuts to it. The programme-makers defended their programme and, although changes were made, the transmitted version still annoyed the intelligence agencies. However, his genuflection to those in power ensured that his five years in charge of the BBC were generally very stable and secure for the organisation.
...
Wikipedia