Sunday newsbucket

Lord Patten, now fully in harness at the BBC, has previously detected an occasional "sort of swagger" by the organisation in front of other broadcasters, which he may now be called upon to reduce.

US digi-journo-guru Jeff Jarvis found swagger when he challenged the BBC for conducting one day of its "Social Media Summit" (no grandeur there, then) under "Chatham House Rules".  He went, in his own words, theatrically batshit on Twitter, and then was attacked in return by most of those on the inside of "the Rules".

Peter Preston, never himself a swaggerer, may have been swagged in today's Observer.   He exhorts Lord Patten to defend BBC News against 20% cuts, saying this would reduce them to the level of Sky and ITN.  Peter should maybe make a phone call to Osterley and the Gray's Inn Road about staffing and budgets, and reconsider.   The BBC has eight correspondents in Washington, even after the departure of Matt Frei.  A 20 per cent cut would leave them with six and a bit.

BBC Radio 4 Controller, Gwyneth Williams, is perhaps not swaggering, but shroud-waving ahead of the 20% cuts. In front of the home crowd of a Voice of the Listener and Viewer conference in London on Wednesday, she expressed the hope that the network wouldn't have to take "undue punishment".   That won't have pleased Thommo.