Two step aside amid BBC investigation

The BBC director of news and her deputy have "stepped aside pending an investigation into two bungled sex-abuse stories broadcast on "Newsnight," the BBC said. The BBC said it fully expects Helen Boaden, director of news, and deputy Stephen Mitchell to be cleared of any wrongdoing. The company said they merely "stepped aside" to remove themselves from decision-making while Nick Pollard, former head of rival Sky News, investigates the network. The network said in a statement it wanted "to make it absolutely clear that neither Helen Boaden nor Stephen Mitchell had anything at all to do with the failed 'Newsnight' investigation into Lord [Alistair] McAlpine. Whilst recognizing this, the BBC also believes there is a lack of clarity in the lines of command and control in BBC News." Pollard is investigating the BBC for a Nov. 2 "Newsnight" episode that wrongly implicated McAlpine, former treasurer of the Conservative Party, officials said. Steve Messham, now an adult, incorrectly identified McAlpine as his abuser when he was a child at Bryn Estyn care home in Wrexham, NorthWales. BBC Director General George Entwistle, who resigned Saturday, said the story lacked basic fact-checking -- like showing Messham a photograph of McAlpine to verify his identification -- and reflected "unacceptable journalistic standards," The New York Times reported. The North Wales abuse story came on the heels of controversy regarding the decision to initially spike a story about abuse claims against former BBC personality Jimmy Savile last December. The BBC is accused of covering up the story in favor of airing a tribute of Savile following his death, the Times reported.