Emma Owen
Live reporter

Today we've heard a number of media experts give their thoughts on how the story has unfolded, and we've heard from some friends and colleagues of Huw Edwards too.

Meanwhile, the BBC has resumed its investigation into the presenter's conduct, and we now know senior BBC figures will be asked to talk about their handling of the story during a pre-existing Parliamentary committee session next week.

You can find further coverage on this story here.

Lastly, a reminder that as this story contains a lot of distressing and difficult themes - organisations offering help and support with a host of issues are listed at BBC Actionline.

Thanks for joining us, have a good afternoon.

Image source, PA Media

More support for Huw Edwards - this time from the mental health charity Mind.

Noting his openness about his depression in recent years, the director of Mind Cymru, Susan O'Leary, said Edwards has been very eloquent in talking about it.

"Given these very challenging circumstances, he has asked that he and his family's privacy be respected.

"We would like to stress that it is important that anybody experiencing serious mental health problems is given the appropriate space to receive the treatment they need."

O'Leary said Edwards supports the charity as patron of a branch in Llanelli, Wales.

Huw Edwards is an honorary fellow and professor at Cardiff University, and the university's vice-chancellor Professor Colin Riordan says all those involved should now be allowed "the privacy they have a right to expect".

“It is hard to imagine how distressing the events of the last few days must have been for Huw, his family and friends, those bringing the allegations and their families," he says in a statement.

"All have been pitched into the eye of a media storm that will, unfortunately, have long-lasting effects.

"I hope that Huw receives the support and treatment he needs and that in due course all outstanding issues can be addressed."

Almost a week has passed since the first allegations against an unnamed BBC presenter were published by the Sun.

In that week, we have heard claim and counter claim from the families involved, police have considered the allegations, and the BBC has had to look at its own processes.

Click here to read our comprehensive timeline of how events have unfolded.

Image source, Getty Images

John Simpson, the BBC’s world affairs editor has speaking to Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2. He says wants the “book to be closed” on the matter.

“Can you imagine the fall from grace of somebody like that - from being a hero to millions of people, and then the next moment to be reviled in the way that Huw has been? Imagine the effect on his family or his children, on his wife, or mother?”, he asks.

Simpson goes on to say he believes that the coverage from other parts of the press “feeds into a concerted political campaign in this country against the BBC".

He adds: "It's encouraged by the Murdoch newspapers, by The Telegraph and the Mail group, they want to see effectively the end of the BBC, they want to see it destroyed.”

You can hear a lot more detail on the issues this story has raised from our reporters Katie Razzall and Dominic Casciani in last night's Newscast podcast.

Asked about BBC News's coverage, Casciani speaks about an incident early in his career in Humberside, where a local court reporter was made to write up his own conviction for drunk driving.

The editor's view was that, "if we're holding a light and shining it on the rest of the community, if we do something wrong we have to shine a light on ourselves as well", Casciani says.

He says it is similar with the BBC: "We have to be prepared to shine a light on ourselves without fear or favour, try to do the right thing and to think about the decent and human way to do it."

The aim, he says, is to "get at the facts" and help the public understand something which might be complicated and upsetting, "but because it's become a story, whether we like it or not, we have to do our job properly".

Huw Edwards felt "very angry" and "very let down" by the media coverage of the allegations, his former colleague Jon Sopel has said.

Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain, Sopel - who was until recently the BBC's North America editor, said he had been in touch with Edwards before he was hospitalised.

"He was very angry, I think felt very let down by what happened in the Sun, furious with their coverage, not overly impressed with the BBC's coverage either."

Sopel also said coverage of the allegations "got ugly", adding: "I think it became a feeding frenzy. I think it was a competition to see who could go further the fastest."

First Minister Mark Drakeford said the news about Huw Edwards is a “desperately sad matter for everybody involved”.

Speaking to Radio Wales Breakfast, the Welsh Labour leader said “all of those caught up in it" have in some way seen their lives "adversely affected".

Also on Nicky Campbell's show was Clive Coleman, former BBC News Legal Correspondent. Campbell asked him what would have happened if the BBC had this story but did not include the statement of the young person, like the Sun.

Coleman said: "I can't imagine doing a story which makes serious allegations involving a victim, and the victim contacts you before the story goes live and tells you that the story is rubbish, and you don't include in your piece."

He adds: "You certainly need to include the critical element that the person who has alleged to have suffered says this is all nonsense."

Coleman explains that he finds that very difficult to understand and would welcome a detailed explanation from the Sun.

On 5Live this morning, Nicky Campbell has been discussing the Sun's coverage with a number of guests and callers.

During his ‘Did the Sun get it wrong?' phone in,Tom in Sunderland said: “Maybe the Sun got it wrong, but others got it wrong-er."

Discussing allegations against the BBC presenter, Tom added: “Huw Edwards has been a paradigm of trust between the media and the public, maybe he let himself down more personally and professionally."

He argued: “[Huw] not revealing himself sooner, it's kind of added fuel to the flames" Tom says, referencing the allegations made against Nicky Campbell and Jeremy Vine and many more presenters.

“Things like that could have been handled massively differently and it might not have got as vile in the media as it as it has become.”

Meanwhile, Gary in Colchester told Campbell he has a “huge amount of sympathy for Huw Edwards and his family”.

He said: “I think he's been very naive in trusting people perhaps before he really knew them.”

Now the police have concluded their investigations, the BBC will re-start it’s review into the conduct of the BBC presenter.

“The BBC is in a very difficult position” Gary added.

Image source, .

A little earlier we relayed former ITN chief Stewart Purvis's thoughts on how the media conducted itself over the Huw Edwards story.

But he also raised questions about how morality and behaviour is judged in today's society saying these matters "are not simple".

Purvis asked, putting aside any issue of alleged illegal behaviour, is it really legitimate for an organisation to investigate one of its staff over their private messaging outside of work?

"If the two people are not involved in the same organisation, is it legitimate for them to have some kind of connection, some contact, even though it may not be to the appetite and to the taste of most people in the British public?"

BBC director general Tim Davie will be questioned in Parliament about the corporation's leadership next week.

He will appear in front of the Lords Communications Committee on Tuesday, alongside acting chairwoman Elan Closs Stephens and policy director Clare Sumner.

The appointment is a long standing one - originally scheduled to discuss the corporation's future funding, but the remit has now been expanded

The peers are likely to raise several issues, including "in light of recent events, what concerns have been raised about the adequacy of the BBC's governance arrangements and how it is addressing these".

Those unfamiliar with British culture may have been left wondering how a story about a 61-year-old news presenter could create such a huge media frenzy.

As the BBC's most senior news anchor, Edwards has been a fixture of some of the UK's most historic national moments, such as announcing the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Now questions have been raised about his conduct, following five days of speculation and mounting claims published across Britain's media - including by colleagues at BBC News.

For those of you reading outside the UK, here's an article explaining it all - Huw Edwards and the media scandal gripping the UK.

Emma Owen
Live reporter

It can look a bit complicated when BBC News is covering a story about the BBC.

But with stories like this, BBC News journalists treat the BBC in the same way as any other organisation the news service reports on.

And like with any other organisation, BBC News has to ask BBC management or BBC services for responses and contact the BBC Press Office for official statements.

Occasionally BBC journalists approach senior managers for unplanned interviews - known as "doorsteps" in the news business.

They also sometimes also get offered interviews with management. And when this happens, they know they'll be scrutinised within and outside the BBC over how well they hold their boss to account.

Image source, PA Media

In short, two things.

A review: The director general says it will "assess how some complaints are red flagged up the organisation."

Tim Davie said at the time the BBC was dealing with a "complex and difficult situation" after "serious allegations" were made against Huw Edwards.

An internal investigation will look into Huw Edwards' conduct. As we know, the police have concluded the allegations published in the Sun did not amount to criminality.

But a BBC employee has told Special Correspondent Lucy Manning they received “inappropriate ” and “suggestive” messages from Edwards this year.

The former controller of Radio 4, Mark Damazer, has been on the Today programme, and highlighted the importance of the BBC exercising a proper duty of care.

He said that “it is extremely important that Tim [Davie] and the BBC doesn’t feel that it has to be rushed by other people’s agendas to come to measured, appropriate and evidenced conclusions.

“I think jumping to a conclusion about what those answers should say is not quite reasonable.”

Asked if the coverage of the story has been disproportionate, Damazer said: “The BBC has to work through it’s own news values and try hard not be the mathematical average of everyone else’s news values, which is made much more difficult by the distorting cacophony of social media.”

How might this play out from here on?published at 08:39 British Summer Time 13 July 2023

08:39 BST 13 July 2023

Katie Razzall
Culture editor

The BBC has been shown evidence which it has deemed serious.

There has been a complaint from parents who say they are deeply worried about their loved one who Huw Edwards is alleged to have paid for explicit photos.

So even if not criminal, it IS still potential misconduct.

But the BBC's investigation will need to tread carefully now that we know the presenter has severe mental health issues.

The BBC has a duty of care towards him as an employee and that must be respected. He is in an internal corporate BBC process, but without having seen the evidence we can't judge.

It could end in a reprimand. It could end in dismissal. It could end in reputational rehabilitation.

Image source, PA Media

Statements from the Metropolitan Police that there was no criminal case to answer and from Huw Edwards's wife explaining he is in hospital "acted like a dash of cold water to the face of all journalists", a former senior editor at BBC News says.

Speaking on the Today programme, Sir Craig Oliver says both the Sun and the BBC must be asking themselves how to manage their duty of care to people involved in what has become a "frenzied" media environment.

Oliver, who was also director of communication for former-PM David Cameron, asks if news should in fact slow down to allow a more measured investigative process to take place.

He also describes Edwards as a man who is "capable of being a very positive, ebullient human being" but also struggles with "dark moods", highlighting the broadcaster's honesty over his depression for many years.

Stewart Purvis, a former chief executive at ITN, says there are three issues arising for the media.

Firstly, he says journalists will need to consider the legitimacy of reporting on someone’s private life, secondly, whether allegations made by other news organisations should be repeated, and thirdly if further inquiries into someone’s personal affairs should be made.

He's been on BBC Breakfast and the Today programme this morning, calling for The Sun newspaper, which first published the allegations, and the BBC to look at how they have conducted themselves.

“I have to say colleagues in the US are looking over at this case with some amazement - no news organisation would report on its parent company in the way the BBC has.

“It is legitimate to ask whether BBC News, in its wish to show its independence from the BBC corporate entity, perhaps has gone too far – I think that’s a legitimate question for debate.”

Just to set the scene, Thursday's newspapers are still dominated by the disclosures about Huw Edwards.

In brief, here's what some of them are saying this morning:

• "My husband has serious mental health issues" is the headline on the cover of the Daily Mail, which calls it a "bombshell"
• "It IS Huw Edwards" writes the Metro, external
• The Daily Telegraph, external says the developments mean the BBC will now come under pressure to justify its suspension of the broadcaster
• The Times, external, owned by the same Murdoch group as the Sun which published the original allegations, says the tabloid stands by its reporting.
• But, the Guardian, external's Media Editor, Jim Waterson, writes of a growing "defensiveness and nervousness" in the Sun's story over recent days. He says the paper faces "serious questions and a potential legal risk" from its journalism
• The i newspaper, external says the crisis will make it harder for ministers to appoint a high-quality chair of the BBC to replace Richard Sharp, who resigned over claims he had helped secure a loan for Boris Johnson