How to get ahead in public service broadcasting

be a “drain”.

Following the various acts of fraud conducted on the public by individuals at the BBC there’s an interesting account of how things works there by their former business editor Jeff Randall, who never struck me as your typical BBC type, over at the Telegraph.

That said, it is an institution with a thick layer of egregiously poor management. For every journalist foot-soldier, gamely filing reports from war zones, there is, back at HQ, a battalion of worse-than-useless, middle-ranking meddlers with only one aim: to survive long enough to draw a pension.

These are what a news editor described to me as “creatures of the corridors”. Many are failed broadcasters.

They exist in a parallel universe of meetings about meetings. They are masters of work creation, digging holes in order to fill them in, communicating largely by sanitised memos. They know every BBC guideline on race, gender, equality, diversity, health and safety.

Yet when required to take a decision, they refer up, delegate down or, better still, go missing. They abhor accountability.

Anna Ford told me: “There are only two types of people here: radiators and drains. If I were you, I’d avoid the drains. The BBC is full of them.” I knew precisely what she meant.Jeff Randall

While others have been fired or resigned in the private sector those at good old Aunty have been suspended, on full pay of course. A nice paid holiday during the summer, just a shame the weather hasn’t been too nice of them with all that rain 🙄

It’s rained here every day since Gordon got into number 10.

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