Partly for the sake of provocation - and I mostly mean for the sake of recording my own feelings of provocation on reading the piece - and, also, just because it's him, please take a read of Nick Cohen's denunciation of BBC Director of News James Harding at Standpoint and its less-obviously-left-wing follow-up at the Spectator.
It poses some serious questions about Mr Harding's past record [the then-Times man's passing over the expenses scandal] and present BBC directorship, alleging cronyism - the kind of potentially devastating charges that the BBC boss ought to be compelled to answer - but there's so much in Nick's piece that strikes me as wildly off-key (a polite way of saying "wrong") that I'd be glad of a second opinion. I'm having trouble sorting out the insights from the blind spots.
I've never been able to take Nick Cohen seriously. The gothic bitchiness seems to me fall short of the penetrating analysis someone in his position ought to offer.
ReplyDeleteThe point about the BBC is that it needs reform not criticism and certainly not criticism of individual heads and editors.
Dan Read