Dot com still booming

More Yankee tail wagging the BBC UK dog.  An advert for someone to drive digital news stuff from New York. Will Matt Brittin notice that this is a mess ?

"The Head of Multimedia and Social leads the development, production and distribution of digital video and social output for BBC.com, the international BBC app and associated platforms... The position will report to senior leadership within BBC Commercial News, and will collaborate with other stakeholders across BBC Studios, BBC News and throughout the BBC group to deliver editorial content that serves audiences, supports growth and upholds BBC values."

$180k, two days a week in the office. Lovely. 

Turf wars

The BBC's quest for prominence on multi-media devices, so that UK-constructed 'news', that engine of democracy, doesn't get buried under a pile of influencers and AI twaddle, has won the support of the Government in this week's Green Paper. But our newspapers (or perhaps their owners) are beginning to wake up and complain.  The Times this week asked why the Government should have any role at all in decided which were and were not 'trusted sources'. 

Does one get a whiff of newsprint when reading the weekend offerings of BBC News online ? Today's stories include: "I'm in therapy for my 14-hour-a-day phone addiction and I'm determined to beat it"; "These women said no to having kids - here's why"; "I'm overwhelmed now - so how do I plan for motherhood when I've got ADHD?", and, in the Top Ten most read: "Sort Your Life Out: The four most common cluttering mistakes and how to fix them". 

Award winners

 Well, well.  All four (yes, four) of Lisa Nandy's special advisers got a trip to the Brits in Manchester, courtesy of various sponsors. Griffin Mosson, Harjeet Sahota, Jane Eagles and Owen Alun John. 

Busy Lisa

An outsider might think that Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy was man-marking BBC Chairman Samir Shah, from the number of official meetings held over the first three months of this year.  No less than five recorded, with Lisa also stepping into staff way below the Chairman; meetings with both Laura Kuenssberg and Chris Mason will inflame the conspiracy theorists.  

Amusingly, Lisa met new DG Matt Brittin in mid-January "to discuss AI and copyright" a full month before his candidacy for the job was revealed. Less transparently, Lisa held a meeting "to discuss the Charter Review with long-serving BBC staff". She also introduced herself to Rhodri Talfan-Davies and had a goodbye session with Tim Davie. 

To round off the three months, a cerebral session with former DG Mark Thompson, now CEO and Chairman, CNN Worldwide.

Timely ?

Never mind Charlie's tax. What about BBC expenses ?

"The BBC publishes quarterly expenses, gifts and hospitality for all Senior Leaders who earn £178,000 or more per year as well as for all members of the BBC Board, as part of our commitment to transparency."

Last publication covers Quarter 4, 2024/25, i.e. ending in March 31st 2025 - 452 days ago.

Sliding doors

James Purnell looks set to be at the heart of No 10 at a key time for one of his former employers, the BBC.   "Lucky Jim" managed BBC strategy first in the 1990s, combining it with being a Labour councillor in Islington. 

Now this emblem of Blue Labour will be alongside Andy Burnham as he selects a new Culture Secretary - or will he stand by neighbouring MP and friend Lisa Nandy ?

What of the rest of the Demon Eyes, the Islington astro-turf football team which featured Purnell and Burnham ?

Ed Richards, former Ofcom boss, will stay with Flint Global, Purnell's most recent berth

Dan Corry, serial think-tanker, was appointed non-executive board member at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 2025, while still holding down the role of  Chief Economist at the Future Governance Forum.

Tim Allan, founder of Portland Communications, had a year in No 10 and left in the wake of Morgan McSweeney in matters Mandelson.

Ed Balls is currently playing Anton Du Beke to Susanna Reid's Shirley Ballas on GMTV

Stewart Owadally has been campaigning off and on for Labour in Wales, and now has his own PR firm. 

Tom Gash is MD at Leapwise PR; he "empowers top teams and national leaders to make better, faster decisions - through advice, writing and broadcasting on criminal and organisational decision making."

David Miliband is President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee. 

Shiny floor

Tim Davie's final meeting with the BBC Board came at the end of March, and someone had booked TVC1, the biggest BBC Studio at Television Centre.  Even with thirty-odd in attendance, it seems a rather oversize and sentimental move, given the bulk of the meeting was discussing the need for ferocious cuts over the next three years...

Thank you very much

I'm sorry, but I thought I heard BBC News interim boss Jonathan Munro say he believes they've handled the news of cuts more sensitively this time round. 

Maybe not. At least five regular BBC freelance reporters in faraway places, covering stories that made the BBC a global force over many years, received this email five days ago: "Like all of BBC News more widely, we are facing large savings targets. Therefore, we have decided that we will not be renewing your engagement letter with us when it expires on July 31st this year. World News Content will stop using you." 

Smelly feet

 A prowl round this morning's digital first offerings from BBC on other platforms reveals an item called "Do you take off your shoes indoors ?" by Global Health journalist Kate Bowie.  It's in the top six stories on the BBC's TikTok feed; in the top eight on Instagram (alongside "How hot will it get in this heatwave ?" and "Why do people go to Stonehenge for the solstice ?"). Can't find it yet on the BBC News Facebook or Twitter feeds, nor, surprisingly the BBC News main page, or Health page (as, presumably, curated for me). 

Is this why we can't have the World Tonight and Midnight News on Radio 4 ?

Munro bagging

First, a reminder that what we've been told so far represents just half of the cuts that BBC News has to make by the end of the financial year... 

BBC News interim boss Jonathan Munro said axing The World Tonight after 56 years was a "very difficult decision... it's excellent, it's a very, very strong journalistic offer. But we make another programme called Newshour, from the same newsroom... so we can make one programme for two audiences, which is obviously more efficient".  Yes, yes, Jonathan - so why not just merge most of R4 and the World Service in English ?

Yet the BBC's position on Charter Renewal is that it wants the Government/Foreign Office/Ministry of Defence to pay for all of the World Service from 2028.   Will they be able to 'claim back' for the 10pm slot on Radio 4; will they claim for the overnight bulletins that sustain Radio 2/5Live and Local ?

And here Munro on the future of the News Channel: "We're going to make it increasingly global in its focus, and that's because the audience for the News Channel is growing around the world, it grew in the last twelve months, it's not growing in the UK, and actually there's a revenue opportunity there with the News Channel outside the UK".  If I were Lisa Nandy, I'd want to see the books for this. And get an explanation of why the BBC seeks continued public funding while ceding UK audiences to the growing GB News.