Under the formidable micro-management envisaged for the corporation,might it at least be allowed to pick its own chair of the board?The big BBC problem (pace Tony corridor last week) is independence. How do you please Master Whittingdale and run yourself (survey, no trustees!) via a single board whether the chair, or the deputy chair and several non-execs besides are imposed on you from Whitehall? Unitary operation without unified purpose.
The director general favours an Channel 4 solution. Let Ofcom select your chair,just as it does for C4. But even this seems a burden too far (particularly since the current chief at C4 was busy slagging off former chairs Grade and Johnson the other day). whether the BBC is to be regulated henceforth by a new semi-indifferent, special sub-board of Ofcom – that is, or to hold a whole new monitoring apparatus created for maximum constraint – then why not let it hold the unitary board chairman it wants,with an individual government veto whether necessary? At the moment, HMG is talking belts, or braces and handcuffs – and Whittingdale,solemnly advising BBC1 which programmes he approves of, is the day and night manager no one would choose.
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Source: theguardian.com