Your BBC Needs You – interviewing a BBC veteran on Ross, Brand, and management mess

To contrast with the fledgling students I interviewed at City University, I had a chat with ex-BBC World Service board member Barry Langridge, a management expert and enthusiast for BBC ethics.

You can download the podcast below:

Public Surface Podcast, with Barry Langridge MBE

He says the BBC management is to blame for many of the crises discussed in this blog – all the more reason for City University alumni to get involved.

Climate of Fear?

They say that if you’re starting a blog, write something you really care about.

So, here is a blog about the big wide world of the BBC; a world in which I want to work one day. 

It will be deal with values that the BBC is constantly struggling to balance and uphold; informing, educating, and entertaining with objectivity.

In this internet age, that challenge is huge. Complaints are made at the click of  button and the consequences (good or bad), can last for months or do permanent damage.

Marina Hyde last week linked the BBC’s refusal to air the DEC humanitarian aid appeal for Gaza with last year’s so-called Sachsgate saga. It had created a climate of fear, according to Hyde.

Whether she was right or wrong, it is hard to see how articles still cynically milking the Ross-Brand saga (like this one in the Mail today), will help the BBC make the right choice when facing more serious decisions in future.