Monday 20 January 2020

Getting out


As you know, Lord Hall is leaving the BBC.

He's off to run the National Gallery - which is very nice for him.

Hopefully he'll carry on his fine work at the BBC and pursue its sacred mission - the diversity agenda - with just as much vigour there. The National Gallery is full of paintings by dead, white European males, which surely can't be allowed to continue. 

(Wonder if Ash Sarkar can paint? Tony Hall could still make her the Gallery's artist-in-residence, even if she can't). 

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The BBC's online report on the story is open for comments. As Bernard would have said in Yes, Minister, that's very brave. I think it's safe to say that, so far, they could be going a good deal better for the BBC. 

Here are the Top 10 comments:

  1. Great, can we please have the BBC back? You know, the one that wasn't obsessed with gender politics, racism or anything snowflake, and could it return to being a dependable and unbiased organisation that produced great programming? Could we, please?
  2. He has turned the BBC into a biased woke left wing organisation that does not reflect the majority view of the population. A population that is forced to pay for this and it is high time to get rid of the TV tax.
  3. Hall has totally destroyed the BBC and turned it into a third rate tabloid! Should have been sacked years ago!
  4. Box ticking BBC has lost its way with social engineering and biased views.
  5. But he said he felt it was important the BBC had the same leader for the BBC's mid-term review in 2022 and the renewal of its charter in 2027. Who says the BBC's charter will be renewed in 2027 anyway?
  6. He's getting out before the poo hits the fan.
  7. I'd give it 18 months and there will be no licence fee.
  8. I'm glad. Somehow over the last few years I've felt like BBC news was there to make me feel unhappy with everything, rather than informing me of national and world events.
  9. Hope the new DG can crackdown a bit. BBC News (website in particular) is a biased joke, and they seem to think that the nation should do/think exactly what they want, or go swivel. It needs some serious reform. Look to how Reuters handle news: it can't ever be perfect but they try to be fair in layout and language and avoid trying to "spin" the news. 
  10. I can only echo the comments of the highest rated. We don't recognise the BBC anymore. I would say under Hall's watch the company HAS proved to be divisive and bad for our country. It's all cookery shows, endless trailers, endless having minority groups rammed in your face.

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Although rumour has long had it that Lord Hall was grooming former Labour minister James Purnell to succeed him, pretty much everyone is predicting that his successor will actually be a woman

(I suppose James could always self-identify as a woman, if that helps.)

I doubt it will be Samira Ahmed. 

Should we predict who it will be? From the Guardian's list of runners and riders, I'll pick former Ofcom boss Sharon White. She'd certainly keep the diversity flag flying at the BBC.

3 comments:

  1. I am sure June Sarpong, judging from her OBN tweets, would be happy to work under Lord Hall at the National Gallery. The basements afford many opportunities for serious discussions on diversity awareness.

    I hope Rod Liddle, Peter Hitchens and Julia Hartley-Brewer all apply for the job and make public the reasons, given in their "feedback", why they didn't get the job! :)

    Sharon White has got to be the bookies' favourite. I can't see them giving it to F*** Up Fran who - by allowing gross partisanship in news and current affairs - has now put the BBC model in serious jeopardy.

    Is there any reason why Amol Rajan wouldn't think he was fully qualified to take on the role of DG and
    out-perform Netflix after having first forced Dominic Cummings to resign? I can't think of a reason! I bet he's typing up his CV right now: "How I made the Independent newspaper the vibrant and successful niche online publication it is now...".

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  2. It's interesting to note from the National Gallery's website that the Trustees are appointed by the Prime Minister after an open selection process and that Sir Hall became a Trustee in November 2019.

    https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/about-us/organisation/board-of-trustees

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  3. Sharon White has only just gone to Chair John Lewis after a stint at the OFCOM. Would she leave that plum post so soon for the BBC?

    ReplyDelete

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