About 3,000 pages of transcripts of evidence given by 19 individuals to the Pollard inquiry set to be made public

A censored version of Jeremy Paxman's criticism of BBC management's handling of the Jimmy Savile scandal is expected to be published on Friday among transcripts of the evidence given to an internal inquiry into the crisis.

The BBC will publish online about about 3,000 pages of evidence given by 19 individuals who were interviewed by the former head of Sky News Nick Pollard, consisting of transcripts of their interviews with the review team, plus supporting documents including relevant emails and texts.

Some of the evidence given by Paxman and Peter Horrocks, who as global news director is responsible for the World Service and BBC World News channel, was potentially defamatory and lawyers have removed it, according to sources.

It is understood that Paxman and Horrocks were particularly critical of how senior BBC News management handled the Savile scandal in the autumn.

It is also understood, however, that less than 10% of the soon-to-be published Pollard review transcripts will be redacted.

The BBC published the findings of Pollard's inquiry in December, covering the corporation's handling of Newsnight's abandoned Savile investigation in late 2011, and the aftermath when the story finally broke in October.

Lawyers working on the transcripts are understood to have found the task of redacting more difficult as BBC staff and executives spoke freely as they gave evidence, given that it was not known at the time that the material was going to be published.

The BBC Trust chairman, Lord Patten, said before a Commons select committee in November that the annex on which Pollard based his conclusions, including the transcripts of witness statements, would be published.

When the Pollard report came out on 19 December, it emerged that Paxman said he believed the decision to axe Newsnight's Savile investigation was a "corporate decision", suggesting that the programme appeared to be "hiding" by refusing to cover the story that eventually emerged in an ITV documentary in October.

He emailed the former Newsnight editor Peter Rippon within an hour of the editor publishing a blog defending his decision to drop the Savile film – it was later shown to contain several inaccuracies – to say the blog "doesn't answer all of the accusations laid against us".

Paxman told Rippon: "I have to say, I think we make a problem for ourselves by running away from this story."

Pollard's report criticised the BBC and the former director general George Entwistle for failing to look hard enough at the issues surrounding Savile tribute programmes that were planned after the Jim'll Fix It presenter's death in late October 2011, even though they knew their flagship current affairs programme had launched an investigation into child sex abuse allegations.

The report was also critical of the former BBC News director Helen Boaden for being "too casual, too fleeting" when she raised the issue with Entwistle at an awards ceremony in late 2011. Pollard said he was surprised she didn't take "a more proactive role" and said it was clear a "significant part of the division she headed was in meltdown".

Entwistle, Boaden, Rippon and the former BBC director general Mark Thompson were among the 19 witnesses the Pollard inquiry interviewed over a six week period.

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