I don't understand why he resigned at all. The buck should stop at the top if 1) there is a chronic problem -- and this Saville/McAlpine case strikes me as totally exceptional and unusual I can't remember anything like this at the BBC ever before. Or 2) a systemic problem -- and the story was apparently checked by the correct layers of management and lawyers. Personally I would fire the lawyer and editor and never employ the reporter again. Sometimes the people who faff up really are the people responsible. Maybe there are other problems with BBC management but they seem irrelevant here. I certainly don't think senior management should be checking news stories- if the news editors and lawyers decide its OK then its none of his business. Indeed the whole Saville criticism seems to be whether senior management interfered when they shouldn't.