From the outside

Odds and ends on the 48-hour strike:

The Mail alleges that a pact between presenters Sarah Montague and Evans Davis got a Today programme on air on Saturday morning on Radio 4. 

Senior broadcast sources have told The Mail on Sunday that Montague told bosses on Friday that she would turn up for work on Saturday on condition that she did not have to present the programme on her own. Davis subsequently agreed to join her in the studio at Television Centre in West London, where the programme is normally made.

In the Telegraph, Andrew Gilligan, probably the most famous ex-Today reporter, says some staff were surprised to hear Helen Boaden, Director of News, reporting on radio bulletins. "It's like the Queen doing the vacuuming". And his overall verdict on last week's strikes in general... 

Two militant unions, the firefighters and Bob Crow’s RMT, have jumped the gun, striking against changes that most see as reasonable. When the cuts really bite, we may see some genuinely popular action. Last week, however, was not the beginning of a “new wave of industrial militancy” - but rather more of a false start. 

And in the Observer, Peter Preston says the action is wrong, harking back to the rhetoric about previous strike dates.  


The NUJ rep at the Millbank political coverage centre seemed to sum everything up when he pushed for a first strike on the Tory conference's big day a few weeks back. "The UK's healthy media will ensure that the [Conservative] message gets out," he said. In short, turn to ITN, or Sky – we're just one voice amongst many. The crucial defenders of BBC independence – of the point of the entire exercise – are its staff. How glum to find them chucking it away.