Sheer terror

From Robert Peston's Hugh Cudlipp lecture:

"Among the many things that I wish in life, I wish the BBC was more confident in its news coverage. As it happens, only once in my time at the BBC did its bosses stop me saying what I wanted to say. A couple of days before the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, and just ten minutes before going to air on the Ten O’Clock news, a piece I had made on the economic implications of Scottish independence was pulled, on the orders of the corporation’s most senior executives, who feared the ire of Alex Salmond.

"The least edifying aspect of the incident is that the assorted bosses subsequently rang me to distance themselves from the decision, just in case it leaked and became a cause celebre. What this shows, of course, is why it is so hard for the BBC to stick its neck out and give a view. The backlash against it from politicians and media when it makes a mistake is so disproportionately great that sheer terror grips those who run it."