Bewildered

A business stops doing stuff that stops making money.  Modern universities cut courses that don't attract paying students.

But the BBC is, I think, there to take a more-or-less universal tax (frozen in a week of frankly-too-speedy acquiescence) and spend it wisely. Spend it informing and entertaining as many people as possible, in ways that the commercial market doesn't.  It had, or used to, a strategy of re-invention and innovation, and generally, we love it.

Mark Thompson's last serious intervention as DG is therefore a major disappointment. Conservative with a small c - a retreat to allegedly "high" culture, and a sharp kick in the teeth for services trying to reach social grades C2, D & E. Nothing to lift the spirits in terms of new ideas; vague promises of preserved quality on BBC1 and Radio 4 for the audiences and staff to cling on to, through the chill autumn and winter.

The Telegraph has an interesting take on how flaky and tactical the cuts really are. "....senior executives at the corporation confirmed that the total job cuts figure was hastily scaled down from 2,600, late on Wednesday. The sources said the figure was cut to 2,000 to try to reduce staff unrest, as well as allowing the broadcaster to claim it had out-performed the new target when reporting on the progress of the cuts". 


For the staff, it's simply two-faced.  How can assistant producers and producers in BBC Radio Factual square being re-graded and re-applying for their own jobs, with a commitment to continued quality ?  How do staff on the Asian Network feel about a cut of 46% to their programme budget and a halving of their staff, when the Gaelic service BBC Alba sails on at a cost of 21.8p per viewer hour ?  Without a tailored news service, what's the difference between 1Xtra and your average high-rise-flat-based pirate station, in terms of connecting with an important and growing audience - and informing their democratic judgements ?  And when you cut both these news teams so severely, where's the nurture and training for young journalists from ethnic minorities going to come from ?

English local radio takes a big hit - with no message of comfort or suggestion that this is going to reverse a steady decline in audiences, or indeed, that it's the end of their cuts. And they seem to be fumbling the message in several areas - is Danny Baker getting the cut from BBC London, or not?  He seems to think so, which is uncomfortable enough, considering the year he's had.

Five Live gets a series of body punches - 7.5% out of programme budget, an end to Five Live Investigates, regional reporters more than halved - with the bland consolation of "co-operation" with BBC1 Breakfast in Salford.

Now we're hearing of 300 to 350 jobs to go in BBC Vision.  Does that shape up with "kwalitee ?"

For the record, I'm not opposed to all cuts. Double-headed presentation on the News Channel, two commentators AND a summariser on radio coverage of football matches, three or more reporters on the same story - all bad.  UPA, over-management - worse. The disappointment is, at the end of a very painful process, no sense of direction - and a management that makes it clear, as if we hadn't guessed, BBC1 and Radio 4 are all they really care about when push comes to shove. Staff on all other channels must be feeling bewildered today.