Non-exec insights

Let's hope he "mispoke".   Samir Shah, a former BBC current affairs boss, and, until last year a non-executive director on the BBC board, uttered these words to the Sunday Times, in the debate about Radio 4 and the BBC dumbing down in general:  "And because they have all this pressure to reach particular people, or hire particular people, they don't have the same standards."   This is uncomfortable, coming from a former chair of the Runnymede Trust; and sort of belittles the point of having non-executive directors.

Mohit Bakaya, a commissioning editor for Radio 4, is Dr Shah's brother.  Monisha Shah, Dr Shah's sister, spent 10 years as an executive with BBC Worldwide, and sat on the board of a BBC Worldwide/Times of India joint venture.  She is a trustee of The Tate; Dr Shah is a trustee of the Victoria  & Albert Museum.