Scenes behind the scenes

The Birmingham Post reports that outside mediators have been called into the BBC's regional newsroom at the Mailbox to investigate claims of bullying. 100 staff will be interviewed.  An emergency chapel meeting is reported to have passed votes of no confidence in the Head of Regional Programmes Cath Hearne and acting editor Mark Hayman.  It's a story that doesn't yet seem to have made it to the comprehensive BBC website for the city.

Cath and Mark have been seen as  a "fix it" team brought in by David Holdsworth (they most recently worked together at Hull, where Mark edited the area version of Look North), but it seems Midlands Today staff have yet to be convinced their output is "broken".  The BBC's bit of the Mailbox is largely open plan, and it's hard to hide newsroom tensions from others - like The Archers' producers, The Asian Network, Farming Today and more.  I wonder whether the row will spark more public interest in the 90 minute Behind The Scenes Tour offered by the BBC. Tickets from £4.50, and there's one scheduled for this evening.