Director of BBC News. Boaden received criticism following the 7 July terror attacks in London when she issued a memo instructing BBC staff not to refer to the perpetrators as terrorists, arguing that the term "can be a barrier rather than aid to understanding". Former BBC reporter Martin Bell was one of those who condemned the memo, accusing the BBC of being "overcautious" and noting that the attackers seemed to meet the definition of terrorists. Writing in The Spectator, Michael Vestey suggested "it's almost as if the BBC is afraid of offending suicide bombers in the Muslim world". In December 2012, Boaden was asked to temporarily step down from her position as the Director of BBC News while the BBC awaited the results of Operation Yewtree, a wide-ranging police investigation of sexual abuse, primarily of children, by former BBC presenter Jimmy Savile (who died in 2011) and others. A second and parallel investigation, launched by the BBC into possible management failings at the corporation, called the 'Pollard Report' after the lead investigator, Nick Pollard (a former senior executive at Sky News), criticised the BBC and several executive members for continuing with plans to celebrate Savile's life, despite apparently having received advance information that Savile was being investigated for multiple cases of sexual abuse. The report explicitly criticised Boaden for having handled the matter too casually. Boaden returned to her position later the same month. In February 2013, Boaden was appointed director of radio by incoming director-general Tony Hall. This was widely seen as a demotion. After a period with Fran Unsworth in her former post, James Harding became Director of BBC News later in 2013. Boaden resigned from the BBC in September 2016. She is a Fellow of The Radio Academy. In May 2019, she joined the board of the UK Statistics Authority for a period of three years. Awards Boaden has won Sony Awards for a programme on AIDS in Africa, and bullying in Feltham Young Offenders Institution when at File on 4. Radio 4 won the Gold Award for Station of the Year in 2003 and 2004. In 1990, Boaden won awards from the Industrial Society for her work on safety standards in the oil industry. She has honorary degrees from Suffolk College, the University of Sussex, and the University of York. She is on the committee of the Sony Radio Academy. In February 2013, she was assessed