Musings

Some idle musings as we await The Bigliest Letter of Apology Ever. 

📑How long will Tim Davie stay ?  It's going to take six months to find an external DG; is it really appropriate for him to stay til the end of the financial year ? 

Deborah Turness clearly doesn't have the confidence of the Board; and yet, Tim Davie brought her to the BBC. He shouldn't be involved in recruiting and appointing her successor. 

📑We note Kevin Bakhurst of RTE is letting his name go forward for the DG hole. Kevin, while Witchfinder General at Ofcom, found this blog "hilarious". At RTE he runs an annual budget of around £380m. The BBC's budget for 2025 is around £4.5bn. 

📑Andy Webb, relentless pursuer of Martin Bashir and The Princess, says that all documents relating to the post-interview inquiries have disappeared from the BBC's Written Archive. In parallel, the Written Archive centre is closing down opportunities for historical research, blaming costs. 

📑The man  who enabled the return of Martin Bashir to the BBC for a second time, Jonathan Munro, Protector of Normal Practice in Video Edits, is now i/c BBC News. He welcomed Martin as Religious Affairs Editor to please his then boss, James Harding

📑 May this blog be the first to mention the possibility of Rhodri Talfan-Davies emerging with some interim role ? Currently patrolling the AI horizon for Auntie, away from his substantive role as Director of Nations, he's been groomed by Tim, and could be a fit for Deputy DG/fixer - despite hollowing out BBC Local Radio, and some tricky stuff on the gender front... 

📑Lewis Goodall reveals that David Grossman made complaints about two of his reports whilst they were both working at Newsnight. The Executive Complaints Unit 'reluctantly' agreed to rule, and came down largely on Lewis' side.