Director of News James Harding didn't add greatly to his Apprentice DG cv in 2016. Innovation: Portrait, as opposed to 4x3, videos on the BBC News mobile app. Realisation: Slow news (Harding- speak for explaining the background to news events) matters as much as 'breaking news' and 'scoops'. In the pipeline: an uneasy deal to fund 100 reporters reporting on court cases and council sessions. Unsolved puzzle 1: How did the UK electorate convince itself to vote, marginally, for Brexit, when 80% of them get their news from the BBC ? Was it because the BBC was 'fair' to both sides, rather than impartial ? Was it because the difficult questions were only taken on in marginal programmes consumed largely by die-hard remainers ? Unsolved puzzle 2: Should there be a Scottish Six ?
The year ahead is not without worries. The BBC has been bullish in batting aside Sir Cliff Richard's complaints about intrusion in coverage of police searching his flat, but the matter still heads to the courts - and the South Yorkshire Police, jointly in the singer's target, make the case that there wouldn't have been anything like the same scale of tv coverage if the BBC hadn't pushed for it. By around Easter, the BBC HR Director has to come forward with plans to cut allowances that have sustained BBC hacks for years. BBC News has diversity issues on and off screen, and shouldn't use use the current massive recruitment by the World Service to get of the hook.
And eventually, James has to balance the books. It will be the business plan that may derail the Harding campaign - but, he might argue, everytime he looks for a big cut (like the News Channel, or local radio news services) Lord Hall says he's really passionate about them. And history hasn't been kind to first-time DG candidates from News - Tony Hall lost out to Greg Dyke, and only came back via the Royal Opera House (and Yentob Headhunters) when George Entwistle, largely a news player, got into trouble over trouble created in News....
More Apprentice DG appraisals to come. Read about Charlotte Moore here....
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