How to write up a barney

It was Tuesday 4th November when the wider world first knew of Michael Prescott's list of complaints about editorial issues at the BBC, when his 'dossier' was made public in a leak to the Daily Telegraph. The Prescott Package is thought to have been sent to BBC Board members in September;  Prescott's last formal meeting as a member of the Editorial Standards and Guidelines Committee was in June - there's the mildest hint of a 'discussion' at that meeting. Mr Prescott may well have been irritated into writing his explosive email by reports of the September ESGC, when, once again, the issues were discussed and left to drop. 

By the time we arrive at the full Board meeting on October 16th, held in Salford, positions were hardening, but you wouldn't pick up any sense of an existential row from the minutes,  finally published today.

Editorial Matters
5.8 The Board considered an email sent to its directors by Michael Prescott, a previous external editorial adviser to the Editorial Guidelines Committee, which expressed dissatisfaction with the Committee’s handling of a number of editorial matters. 

5.9 The Board discussed the email and a full range of views was expressed. It was concerns and gather further feedback as a first step. The Chair would report back to the Board following the meeting.

At least nineteen people were in the room for that discussion, presumably none guilty of the leak.  Chairman Samir Shah's intentions in listening to Mr Prescott's 'concerns' are as clear as mud; at this stage, it seemed nobody was particularly focussed on the clear breach of guidelines in the Trump edit. It took just five days from the Telegraph leak for the penny to drop, with Deborah Turness losing Board confidence, and Tim Davie throwing the towel in earlier than most expected.