Bishop Crispian Hollis comments on situation at BBC

Bishop Crispian Hollis, issued the following statement last night, about the current situation at the BBC. "This has been a desperately difficult time for the BBC as it has been doing its best to come to terms with the devastating critique contained in the Hutton Report. "As a former (long time ago) member of the BBC staff, I can understand and, to an extent, share the pain that is being experienced by the Corporation and its staff. "However, it is clear that serious response has to be made to the substantial criticisms that have been levelled at the work of the BBC News and Current Affairs Department. "I believe that this response will be made and I welcome this. I echo Archbishop Vincent Nichols' hope that the News and Current Affairs Department will offer consistently fair and honest coverage in all its areas of work and, not least, in the way in which it handles the life and the priorities of the Catholic community in these islands and overseas." Bishop Crispian Hollis Bishop of Portsmouth and chair of the Bishops' Conference Communications Committee