Turning-point for the BBC? - the new DG

[MrGongGong]

It would have been a powerful but not unprecedented case of the establishment embracing its critics, but I would have gone for Ian Hislop

hang on a moment , we can't have intelligent and articulate people in charge of things
( President Attenborough ? though I doubt you could persuade him )

[Flosshilde]

Oborne in today's T'graf

and -
it is worth asking what were the qualities the dour and slightly terrifying Scotsman [Lord Reith] brought to the job.

First, Lord Reith knew nothing about broadcasting.



Well, no - I don't suppose anyone did then

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

but they sure found out .... i guess the point is how much they have forgotten ....

there is an argument if you think someone of the business record of a Sorrell from advertising that the DG salary paid to Thompson is way too low .... or that if the kind of BBC that Oborne longs for that Entwistles is too high and that £150k and an person of commitment and public service vision could be found who could bring something different to the task ... FF for example

[Flosshilde]

Yes- just a cheap joke. When I heard about the appointment my first reaction was that it's a mistake to appoint someone who's grown up in the organisation - it's a very rare individual who's spent that long in a place & will continue to question & challenge in the right way - Birt did it in the wrong way.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Birt was an outsider to the BBC made his name at London Wekend etc ....

[french frank]

Oborne in today's T'graf

discouraging innit .... wonder if Patten thinks he is malleable .... [pay cut?] etc yawn ... same old AUNTSPEAK then ....

This is Neil Midgley in the same T'graf taking the opposite view. If only...

Thompson was paid a basic £668,000 (total remuneration £834,000) in 2010/11. I can't help feeling that GE's willingness to be satisfied with £450,000 (plus the top-up) had something to do with the choice.

[scottycelt]

and -
it is worth asking what were the qualities the dour and slightly terrifying Scotsman [Lord Reith] brought to the job.

First, Lord Reith knew nothing about broadcasting.



Well, no - I don't suppose anyone did then

I think Oborne got it absolutely spot on when referring to the 'the over-educated liberal-Left elite', (funny, I've occasionally thought that ..) and the way its arrogantly smug members seem to pass their extremely lucrative jobs onto like-minded friends and colleagues. Entwistle was Thompson's choice, so the message is loud and clear that it will be business as usual. Well, that's obviously Thompson's hope and desire so we'll just have to wait and see if the new guy surprises us. Surely a change at the top is the very opportunity for a fresh start under a new 'leader'?

It was the towering Reith who's solid principles gave the BBC its once unparalleled reputation for truth, accuracy and quality, and now only scant remnants of the latter remain.

Ah well, times change, I suppose .. (he says, philosophically .. )

[Lateralthinking1]

This is Neil Midgley in the same T'graf taking the opposite view. If only...

Thompson was paid a basic £668,000 (total remuneration £834,000) in 2010/11. I can't help feeling that GE's willingness to be satisfied with £450,000 (plus the top-up) had something to do with the choice.

Isn't that one of the leverage points for 2016? DG Whoever says 'look Govt at my principled pay cut and see it as a statement on my wider aims'. Unfortunately, it is still several times more than the PM's wage.

Midgley only speaks of C Thomson as having been in the frame. She would have been worse but there were many other candidates. He also speaks of M Thompson as a master tactician. He is very easily impressed - and blinkered.

One thing that is laughable is the idea that any DG is his own person. I bet they get advice everywhere. Will MT etc actually go in that sense or metaphorically be sown into his pocket?

[Serial_Apologist]

I see the DG-to-be has made it clear that he wants Miriam O'Reilly back. I didn't quite catch the exact wording (on a chat show) but it may have been "in front of the mike". This could be a positive indicator, but, one would hope, not just in front of a mike.

[french frank]

I see from John Plunkett's profile of GE:

"The only time he has worked outside of the corporation was at Haymarket magazines in the 1980s, working on hi-fi and camera magazines, and reviewing classical CDs." For Gramophone?

Could work either way:

1. He could have his own ideas about serious cultural broadcasting or

2. He could get on well with RW (and sometime R3 presenter James Jolly)

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[EnemyoftheStoat]

I see from John Plunkett's profile of GE:

"The only time he has worked outside of the corporation was at Haymarket magazines in the 1980s, working on hi-fi and camera magazines, and reviewing classical CDs." For Gramophone?

Could work either way:

1. He could have his own ideas about serious cultural broadcasting or

2. He could get on well with RW (and sometime R3 presenter James Jolly)

+-+-+-+-+-+

That would have been long before Gramophone was acquired by Haymarket, no? It seems he was at What Hi-Fi. I'm not sure that either of the above points necessarily follows from this.... Not sure either why getting on well with RW would be a good thing for serious radio, I'm afraid.

[french frank]

Not sure either why getting on well with RW would be a good thing for serious radio, I'm afraid.

That's why I said it could 'work either way'. Left to himself, he could - possiby - be a good thing if he's a classical music buff.

[Thanks for the correction on Haymarket/Gramophone]

[amateur51]

It shows that the Trust have gained some backbone at last and aren't going to be shoved around by the media or the opinions of the public ......

Interesting that there have never been more women (6, or 50-50) on the Trust/Board of Governors and still with two very strong women contenders it goes to a man.

And The Telegraph's view - haven't looked at the Daily Mail's yet (don't think I will).

Catherine Bennett in The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/08/catherine-bennett-bbc-director-general-sexism

[Nick Armstrong]

Catherine Bennett in The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...general-sexism

Awful photograph!!

[eighthobstruction]

There may be trouble ahead
But while there's moonlight and music
And love and romance
Let's face the music and dance

Before the fiddlers have fled
Before they ask us to pay the bill
And while we still
Have the chance
Let's face the music and dance

Soon
We'll be without the moon
Humming a diff'rent tune
And then

There may be teardrops to shed
So while there's moonlight and music
And love and romance
Let's face the music and dance
Dance
Let's face the music and dance