Post by Teddy Bear on Dec 31, 2009 15:08:15 GMT
It's unusual for the BBC to have somebody on one of their programmes who is completely criticizing the corporation. Even more so when the critic is actually a guest editor AND used to be a BBC governor for 5 years and is now a Tory peer and accomplished novelist.
She really lays into the BBC for a variety of transgressions, any of which deserve an end of year review.
She really lays into the BBC for a variety of transgressions, any of which deserve an end of year review.
PD James savages BBC as 'unwieldy and bureaucratic' and says salaries are 'extraordinary'
By Nicola Boden
Bestselling novelist PD James today branded salaries paid to BBC bosses 'extraordinary' as she accused the corporation of being 'unwieldy and bureaucratic'.
In an outspoken attack, Baroness James - who was a BBC governor for five years until 1993 - declared that the organisation had lost its way.
The author, who is one of Britain's most successful crime writers, likened the corporation to a huge, ever-growing ship that was bobbing about aimlessly.
The Baroness said there was a 'huge, great waste of middle-management and bureaucracy' that was difficult to justify and that creative staff were being overlooked.
She read out a list of almost identical job titles, for whom executives are paid a small fortune, to prove her point, asking: 'What exactly are these people doing?'
And she insisted the decision to axe Arlene Phillips from Strictly Come Dancing was ageist and subsequent attempts to diffuse the row were an 'insult'.
The Tory peer challenged director general Mark Thompson in a lengthy interview on the BBC's own Radio 4 Today programme, which she was guest editing this morning.
She compared the BBC to the much-loved organisation of her childhood and said that today 'it seems like a very large and unwieldy ship'.
It has been 'floating since 1920, taking on more and more cargo, building more decks to accommodate it, recruiting more officers - all very comfortably cabinned usually with salaries far greater than their predecessors enjoyed - and with a crew somewhat discontented, some a little mutinous', she said.
Viewers felt 'they pay too much for the journey' and were 'not quite sure where they are going or indeed who is the captain', the peer added.
Hauled over the coals: BBC director general Mark Thompson
The corporation's 'largesse' and 'extraordinary large salaries' paid to managers were of 'immense concern' to the public, she said.
'An organisation that has 37 of its managers earning more than the Prime Minsster surely has to ask itself "is this really justified?"'
Mr Thompson insisted that the BBC had to compete with its commercial rivals and pay top salaries to attract the best staff.
'I think most people would accept that if we want to have the best people working for the BBC, delivering the best programmes and best services, and if we also accept that that means that - at a moment in broadcasting history where people can move very freely from the BBC to commercial broadcasters and back - the BBC has to bear to some extent in mind the external market,' he said.
But the Baroness was incredulous. 'Where are they going to go? I don't see where these jobs are in the private sector,' she said.
Mr Thompson insisted: 'We are still absolutely losing key staff to commercial broadcasters who are still paying top dollar.'
He conceded top staff pay was a 'real issue' but said the difference between BBC chiefs' salaries and its regular workers was far smaller than in most big private firms.
The BBC admitted earlier this year that almost 40 executives take home more than Gordon Brown's £197,689 salary and another 80 receive more than £144,000.
In total, 383 bosses are paid more than £100,000. The corporation pays some £20million-a-year to an army of advisers, strategists and 'decision makers'.
Baroness James also ripped into the decision to axe Miss Phillips from Strictly Come Dancing, saying she used to love to show but not did not bother to tune in.
Replacing the experienced choreographer with Alesha Dixon, a pop singer 36 years her junior, 'can only be ageism' and was just about having a 'pretty girl', she said.
'The reason I watched it is gone so I don't watch it. I no longer enjoy it,' she told Mr Thompson.
He tried to counter that Miss Phillips was returning on another show this year but the peer dismissed this as an attempt to smooth over the row.
She said subsequent attempts to quell the ageism debate by searching for a news reader over the age of 50 was a 'bit of an insult'.
Viewers deserted Strictly in their droves this series and it was consistently hammered in the ratings by ITV's X Factor.
Around nine million viewers watched the final, down from 12 million in 2008. Almost 20 million watched Joe McElderry win the X Factor, up eight million on last year.
Mr Thompson accepted more had to be done to combat ageism but he again denied removing Miss Phillips was to do with her age.
The peer also criticised the falling standards at the corporation, and said programme quality suffered because of the eagerness to go 'head to head' with its rivals.
She listed a string of programmes including Britain's Most Embarrassing Pets, Dog Borstal and Help Me Anthea, I'm Infested as examples of examples of dumbing down.
Mr Thompson said the BBC had to respond to the public demand for Saturday night entertainment but insisted the schedule was no different to at any time in the corporation's history.
'I believe that if John Reith and his colleagues who founded the BBC came to today's BBC they would be surprised and heartened by the fact that people inside the BBC still have a passionate enthusiasm for what they do,' he said.
The criticism came after figures showed BBC audiences plummeted by 20 per cent from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day. Viewers said the output was 'lacklustre'.
By Nicola Boden
Bestselling novelist PD James today branded salaries paid to BBC bosses 'extraordinary' as she accused the corporation of being 'unwieldy and bureaucratic'.
In an outspoken attack, Baroness James - who was a BBC governor for five years until 1993 - declared that the organisation had lost its way.
The author, who is one of Britain's most successful crime writers, likened the corporation to a huge, ever-growing ship that was bobbing about aimlessly.
The Baroness said there was a 'huge, great waste of middle-management and bureaucracy' that was difficult to justify and that creative staff were being overlooked.
She read out a list of almost identical job titles, for whom executives are paid a small fortune, to prove her point, asking: 'What exactly are these people doing?'
And she insisted the decision to axe Arlene Phillips from Strictly Come Dancing was ageist and subsequent attempts to diffuse the row were an 'insult'.
The Tory peer challenged director general Mark Thompson in a lengthy interview on the BBC's own Radio 4 Today programme, which she was guest editing this morning.
She compared the BBC to the much-loved organisation of her childhood and said that today 'it seems like a very large and unwieldy ship'.
It has been 'floating since 1920, taking on more and more cargo, building more decks to accommodate it, recruiting more officers - all very comfortably cabinned usually with salaries far greater than their predecessors enjoyed - and with a crew somewhat discontented, some a little mutinous', she said.
Viewers felt 'they pay too much for the journey' and were 'not quite sure where they are going or indeed who is the captain', the peer added.
Hauled over the coals: BBC director general Mark Thompson
The corporation's 'largesse' and 'extraordinary large salaries' paid to managers were of 'immense concern' to the public, she said.
'An organisation that has 37 of its managers earning more than the Prime Minsster surely has to ask itself "is this really justified?"'
Mr Thompson insisted that the BBC had to compete with its commercial rivals and pay top salaries to attract the best staff.
'I think most people would accept that if we want to have the best people working for the BBC, delivering the best programmes and best services, and if we also accept that that means that - at a moment in broadcasting history where people can move very freely from the BBC to commercial broadcasters and back - the BBC has to bear to some extent in mind the external market,' he said.
But the Baroness was incredulous. 'Where are they going to go? I don't see where these jobs are in the private sector,' she said.
Mr Thompson insisted: 'We are still absolutely losing key staff to commercial broadcasters who are still paying top dollar.'
He conceded top staff pay was a 'real issue' but said the difference between BBC chiefs' salaries and its regular workers was far smaller than in most big private firms.
The BBC admitted earlier this year that almost 40 executives take home more than Gordon Brown's £197,689 salary and another 80 receive more than £144,000.
In total, 383 bosses are paid more than £100,000. The corporation pays some £20million-a-year to an army of advisers, strategists and 'decision makers'.
Baroness James also ripped into the decision to axe Miss Phillips from Strictly Come Dancing, saying she used to love to show but not did not bother to tune in.
Replacing the experienced choreographer with Alesha Dixon, a pop singer 36 years her junior, 'can only be ageism' and was just about having a 'pretty girl', she said.
'The reason I watched it is gone so I don't watch it. I no longer enjoy it,' she told Mr Thompson.
He tried to counter that Miss Phillips was returning on another show this year but the peer dismissed this as an attempt to smooth over the row.
She said subsequent attempts to quell the ageism debate by searching for a news reader over the age of 50 was a 'bit of an insult'.
Viewers deserted Strictly in their droves this series and it was consistently hammered in the ratings by ITV's X Factor.
Around nine million viewers watched the final, down from 12 million in 2008. Almost 20 million watched Joe McElderry win the X Factor, up eight million on last year.
Mr Thompson accepted more had to be done to combat ageism but he again denied removing Miss Phillips was to do with her age.
The peer also criticised the falling standards at the corporation, and said programme quality suffered because of the eagerness to go 'head to head' with its rivals.
She listed a string of programmes including Britain's Most Embarrassing Pets, Dog Borstal and Help Me Anthea, I'm Infested as examples of examples of dumbing down.
Mr Thompson said the BBC had to respond to the public demand for Saturday night entertainment but insisted the schedule was no different to at any time in the corporation's history.
'I believe that if John Reith and his colleagues who founded the BBC came to today's BBC they would be surprised and heartened by the fact that people inside the BBC still have a passionate enthusiasm for what they do,' he said.
The criticism came after figures showed BBC audiences plummeted by 20 per cent from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day. Viewers said the output was 'lacklustre'.