Blogging the Beeb

Hutton Two Years On

Yesterday's Independent carried a valuable article by Ray Snoddy looking back at the lessons of Hutton. His interview with Richard Sambrook, head of BBC News at the time of Hutton, contains the following interesting observation:

That he has survived so well when BBC chairman Gavyn Davies and director-general Greg Dyke both resigned is probably down to two factors that Sambrook will not discuss even now.

It is believed that during the crisis, Sambrook argued unsuccessfully for a swifter and better apology for the part of the coverage on weapons of mass destruction the BBC was judged to have got wrong - claiming the Government deliberately misled the public - and pressing for the row to be taken to independent arbitration.

The irony was that two Labour supporters in Dyke and Davies felt they could not be seen to do a deal with a Labour government - and elected instead to fight, without compromise, on the issue of the BBC's independence.

"I think we got a lot of things right but we got one big thing wrong and there was a lot of mis-communication. Given that somebody died we should all feel bad," Sambrook admits

Former BBC Television MD Will Wyatt's observation is also right:

There was something wrong. On the day that BBC news chiefs and the director general were composing their reply to Alastair Campbell's broadside over the Kelly affair, one of those involved rang me to say, with a chuckle: "You'd never believe how different the atmosphere is to what it would have been under the former regime."

Under John Birt, there would have been a rigorous, unforgiving analysis of the issue, he implied. Now, I sensed, they were in "sod off" mode.

Radio 4 UK Theme

Yesterday's Indie said it might stay after all, as it interviewed Radio 4 Controller Mark Damazer.

Yesterday's Telegraph said the opposite.

Queen sacked Beeb says Telegraph

Yesterday's Sunday Telegraph says that senior BBC figures believed that the Palace sacked the BBC as producer of HM's Christmas Message following the Princess Diana Panorama programme. The article states:

Internal documents obtained by the Sunday Telegraph reveal that BBC bosses were convinced the loss of its exclusive rights to the Queen's Christmas broadcast was directly linked to Martin Bashir's interview with the Princess in 1995.

It goes on:

BBC memos, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show that the corporation did not accept the Palace's explanation that it was bringing ITV on board because it was keen to try out "fresh ideas".

Cor, some scoop, eh?

Shame it was all in the 2003 autobiography written by former BBC TV Managing Director Will Wyatt. In his book, The Fun Factory, Will relates how he met Robert Fellowes and Charles Anson at the Palace in early 1996 to discuss the broadcast. (The Diana Panorama interview went out in late 1995). They told him that they felt that they wanted to test the market and give ITN a chance.

Will says he replied:

I see, Robert....Your motto here is "don't get mad, get even"

UK Theme update

The Radio 4 UK theme came up in Prime Minister's Questions yesterday and is now the subject of Commons Early Day Motions. The Independent gives a musical analysis of the tunes.

Radio 4 Theme Campaign

A campaign about the Radio 4 theme has been set up.

Radio Four

The BBC decision to axe the Radio Four medley of UK folk tunes has provoked a row about the corporation's Britishness.

Here's Gillian Reynolds in the Telegraph. Here's the Telegraph leader.

Jeremy Paxman doesn't like it either.

The BBC timing couldn't be worse of course. The next Prime Minister is extolling the virtues of Britishness, and talking about the importance of symbols, and a few days later the BBC dumps one of them. Still, no-one can accuse them of seeking to curry favour with the government over this!