(
)
There was no warm welcome for New York Times CEO Mark Thompson.
The former BBC director general and editor-in-chief spent his first day on the job dealing with the fallout from a deepening crisis at his former employer and turmoil within the Times.
Thompson, who declined to be interviewed by The Post, told news cameras yesterday as he hurried past that the scandal back home in the UK “will not in any way affect my job that I am starting right now as chief executive of the New York Times Co.”
The BBC’s latest implosion, however, appears to be landing close to Thompson.
His successor, George Entwistle, resigned over the weekend — with just 55 days on the job — after a second child abuse sex scandal rocked the BBC.
“Newsnight” aired a segment last week falsely accusing a leading Conservative party member of being involved in a pedophile ring in Wales in the 1970s and 1980s.
The politician, who was identified by blogs, issued a denial. The accuser also realized after seeing a photo that it was not the same man who had abused him years ago.
The BBC issued an apology and pledged an investigation.
While that bungled report did get air time, it came after producers spiked another “Newsnight” segment on accusations of sexual abuse by the late BBC host Jimmy Savile.
A rival network did air the explosive story last month and London police are now investigating allegations that Savile molested more than 300 adolescent girls over two decades.
The BBC’s news chief, Helen Boaden, and her deputy Stephen Mitchell, “stepped aside” yesterday amid a probe into the matter.
While Thompson claims to know nothing about the reasons the Savile segment was killed, his hiring adds to the pressure on Times Chairman Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger, Jr.
“For the Times, this is a case of borrowed trouble, in the most basic sense,” said news industry analyst Ken Doctor.
Indeed, journalists at the Times are openly questioning why Thompson didn’t delve more deeply into the claims after the Savile show was killed.
Last week, columnist Joe Nocera pointedly asked in a Times opinion piece whether Thompson was “the right man for the job.”
“Thompson winds up appearing willfully ignorant, and it makes you wonder what kind of an organization the BBC was when Thompson was running it — and what kind of leader he was. It also makes you wonder what kind of chief executive he’d be at The Times,” Nocera wrote.
At the same time, union unrest is increasing at the Times, with some prominent voices angrily calling for the 1,100 Newspaper Guild members to reject a tentative pact that goes to a vote today.
One of the dissidents on the negotiating committee, Donald G. McNeil, has been urging members to vote “no” in part because of the paltry pay hikes.
He picked up a big ally when columnist Jim Dwyer urged members to reject the pact. He warned members that the proposed contract could slash the current guaranteed pension plan by 31 percent.