no FT, no comment

Today didn't really pan out as planned. The FT ran a story that predicted the job cull at the BBC to be nearly three thousand, with a major hit in the news areas and television production. I dealt with journalists from all the main outlets, but I find it dispiriting and disrespectful to staff at the BBC for them to hear about their future through rumour and unsubstantiated comments in the press. There is something distasteful and dishonourable about the practise of trailing heavily bad news; either in the expectation that this will prepare people for the shock or to hype up the cuts with the resulting announcement being slightly better, in the hope that this will help defuse the issue. A bit like the fire-brigade starting the fires and then very kindly putting them out for you. For staff working under this kind of pressure it must be intolerable, for the Union representing members it is unacceptable.