The BBC's first Executive Sponsor Safeguarding Impartiality

 

The Mail on Sunday reports that the BBC has appointed its first "anti-bias boss", giving him the official title Executive Sponsor Safeguarding Impartiality. 

He's Ken MacQuarrie, formerly the corporation's Director of Nations and Regions (and before that director of BBC Scotland), and he'll be paid £325,000 a year.

The paper reports that his job with be to train staff to meet the BBC's standards on impartiality and to set in places further measures to that end. 

Apparently however, it's going to be a temporary job and Mr MacQuarrie himself will be leaving the BBC at the end of the year after working there for over 45 years. 

The article and the comments beneath it focus on the "excessive" nature of his salary. 

It's an interesting move though. 

Tim Davie paid tribute to Ken MacQuarrie last year, saying "His wise counsel to me personally, to the executive committee, and the BBC board has been highly valued and very much appreciated by all of us. So often Ken has been the person that we have turned to in tough times for calm, insightful advice."

Indeed, the BBC turned to him in 2012 to investigate Newsnight's disastrous child abuse report.