Liz MacKean dead: Ex-BBC journalist Liz Mackean, who helped expose Jimmy Savile, dies after stroke at just 52
The investigative journalist left the public broadcaster in 2013 after bosses closed her investigation into Jimmy Savile
Former BBC reporter Liz MacKean has died of a stroke - aged 52.
Her 2011 Newsnight report exposing Jimmy Savile’s sex abuse was shelved by Beeb bosses, sparking a huge row and the resignation of the director general.
The decision to drop the report sparked one of the biggest crises in the corporation’s history causing the director general to resign.
MacKean left the broadcaster in 2013 following the row. She felt uncomfortable about the “ongoing coldness” towards her over the scandal and took voluntary redundancy.
Mum-of-two MacKean left the BBC in 2013 to join Channel 4’s Dispatches.
BBC director of news James Harding said: “In Northern Ireland, she won the trust of all sides and produced some of the most insightful and hard-hitting reporting of the conflict.
“It was as an investigative reporter that she really shone, shining a light on issues from the dumping of toxic waste off the African coast to Jimmy Savile, the story for which she is probably best known.”
Her investigation into Savile with Meirion Jones won London Press Club scoop of the year award and she won other awards during her career.
Ex BBC colleague Jones tweeted: “Far too young. Loved by everyone she worked with. Hated by villains she turned over.”
