What is there to say about the imminent departure of James Harding as BBC Head of News? Well, I've got nothing to say, so I'll refer you on to News-watch's David Keighley who provides a short audit of Mr Harding's 'achievements'.
Apparently the names most likely to replace him are all BBC insiders. They include: Jonathan Munro, Gavin Allen, Fran Unsworth, Jay Hunt, Peter Barron, Ian Katz and Amol Rajan.
Fran Unsworth has tweeted three times in 8 years but only one appears...did she delete the other two? Not an impressive work rate for a BBC Panjandrum.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/jonathancmunro
Munro is - wait for it - "Head of News Gathering" ! lol. How typical of the BBC's bloated bureaucracy. They have not just a Head of News but also a Head of News Gathering. That probably triples the number of e mails flying around.
Still at least he is putting in the tweets.
He was very proud of the mammoth unlistenable-to Bowen "How I brought peace and understanding to the Middle East" series. Worrying.
Gavin Allen is a journo at the Labour and Corbyn supporting Mirror. But judging from his twitter he sounds like a hipsterish airhead.
Jay Hunt is public school educated - so very much what you would expect of senior BBC staff.
Barron - the Look North candidate?
The other we know and don't trust an inch.
Ah, the Gavin Allen here is a different one. His present job title is "Controller of Daily News Programmes". He sometimes appears on Samira Ahmed's Newswatch saying that the BBC has got something or other just about right.
DeleteGuido says that Ian Katz wants the job. Just imagine him bringing his Newsnight news values to the whole of the BBC's output. BBC One's News at One, News at Six and News at Ten could all end up being presented by James O'Brien.
Whoops - sorry about the fake news Gavin Allen...I did wonder what his claim was to be in the running! lol
ReplyDeleteSadly I can imagine what BBC News output would be like with Katz in charge. A lot more dressing of the shop window to suggest debate but inside the same stale old stuff on sale...let's not forget it is under Katz we had that appalling Newsnight special on the housing crisis which failed to mention mass immigration as a possible contributory cause.
Might be a bit early for Amol - probably just putting down his marker...his turn next after Katz.