Case not made

It would be presumptuous of me to engage in a 'value' v 'cost' discussion with a top businessman like Matt Brittin. 

What's the 'value' of a top quality radio drama studio in Birmingham, against the construction cost, which he puts at £1.5m ?

What's the 'value' of a continuous 24 hour radio news production operation in London, compared with the cost of a move of one of three shifts to Sydney ?  

On the 'cost' side, the BBC's screwball calculations help News, but hinder the BBC. Restructuring costs (i.e. paying for 26 redundancies) are 'held centrally' and merely noted on the News 'business case'. Should any candidates for the exit be entitled, they may draw down pensions 'early', and the pension scheme is a burden on the licence-fee payer; not part of the News 'business case'. I wouldn't mind betting that the costs of establishing/training/parallel running new offices and studios for 20-odd new staff in Australia mean that any marginal savings in this exercise appear in year 2. 

And what price the lost 'value' of a cohesive approach to UK and World events, where handovers between shifts are face-to-face, and explanations of the sinkholes and craters that surround the delivery of even straightforward stories are passed on with more than just an end-of-shift memo. Where staff shaping the UK morning agenda have a commonality of experience with their core audience, starting their own daily lives with UK tv, radio, papers ?  Perhaps even enjoying an overnight 'breakfast' with members of the Today production team. 

It's entirely possible to write UK news in Blue Street, North Sydney, but, over-time, there will be stuff that's clumsy, out-of-tune, misguided - and strong stories left alone, because the local context is not obvious to someone on the other side of the world.  It's why, after all, BBC News is boosted by so many dedicated correspondents and stringers overseas.  In this case, the baby is on the way out with the bathwater....