Nick Pollard

Nick Pollard (born 1950) is a British journalist and the former head of Sky News.

Early life and education

Pollard was born in Birkenhead and educated at Birkenhead School, an independent school in the city.

Career in journalism

Pollard started his career in journalism as a reporter at the Birkenhead News, and later worked for the BBC in Liverpool and London. He was executive producer at ITN for 13 years, before joining Sky News where he worked from 1996 to 2006. In 2009 he was appointed as chief executive of the Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC), responsible for providing broadcasting and cinema services to British forces and their families.

In October 2012, Pollard was appointed to lead an inquiry into the BBC following allegations of sexual abuse by the late broadcaster and disc jockey Jimmy Savile. Pollard's remit was to look at why an investigation into Savile's activities by journalists on the BBC Two news programme Newsnight was dropped shortly before it was due to be transmitted. His report was published in December 2012 and concluded that the decision to drop the original Newsnight report in December 2011 was "flawed", but that it had not been done to protect programmes prepared as tributes to Savile. His report criticised George Entwistle for apparently failing to read emails warning him of Savile's "dark side", and stated that, after the allegations against Savile eventually became public, the BBC fell into a "level of chaos and confusion [that] was even greater than was apparent at the time".

Pollard is married with two sons.