It was self-shortlisting - 200 applicants. But there was judging. John Myers, Chief Executive of The Radio Academy, said: “When we launched this campaign to find the best of the best, we were overwhelmed by the response, over 200 applicants from right across the UK from all sorts of roles. In order to come up with the right people, we formed a totally independent committee, chaired by Paul Robinson, and they have done an amazing job".
Friday update: A correspondent notes a distinct lack of "diversity" in the winners - a shame considering the contribution US and British black and Asian performers, producers and djs make to UK radio.
- It's been an interesting six months for John at the Radio Academy. In a piece of consultancy work for BBC Radio prior to taking the job, he was surprised to find that there were 52 journalists working for Newsbeat and 1Xtra on bulletins, programmes and documentaries. Under DQF, 18 of those jobs will go. Around a quarter of staff working for BBC Local Radio will lose also their jobs. Industry cheer-leader John's view ? "The BBC and local radio in particular cannot be protected from reality". I wonder what sort of welcome John will get from the floor when he opens the Radio Festival on the 1st November. I wonder whether the BBC divisions that are "patrons" of the Radio Academy have any plans to reduce funding of the Radio Academy under DQF. Currently all staff of patron organisations have free membership - which to anyone else costs £25 a year.
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