'BBC journalists are paid up to forty per cent more than their competitors in the commercial sector, according to a leaked review of salaries in the corporation's news division.Years of union-backed pay rises, as well as top-up allowances unheard of among commercial rivals, have pushed BBC journalists' salaries far in excess of staff at organisations such as Sky News and ITN, according to a pay review leaked to the Daily Telegraph.The report, carried out for the BBC by financial consultants PwC, warns that rank-and-file staff in the BBC's 7,000-strong news division enjoy salaries that are "higher than the market median".'
'Climbers have encountered deep snow on Britain's highest mountain while assisting in a scientific project on the peak.It is not unusual for Ben Nevis to have coverings of snow all year.
However, snow expert Iain Cameron has described the depth of the white stuff on the mountain's North Face as "astonishing".'
'In a press conference articulating his opposition to the Vietnam War, Ali stated, "my enemy is the white people, not the Vietcong".[19]
In relation to integration, he said: "We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate. Integration is wrong. We don't want to live with the white man; that's all."[110]And in relation to inter-racial marriage: "No intelligent black man or black woman in his or her right black mind wants white boys and white girls coming to their homes to marry their black sons and daughters."[110]Indeed, Ali's religious beliefs at the time included the notion that the white man was "the devil" and that white people were not "righteous".'
'In January, The Herald reported that Glasgow Central Mosque had donated money to the orthodox group Tablighi Jamaat, which some argue promotes an extreme brand of Islam.'
'The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has slammed the BBC as "arrogant" and "lacking transparency" in its first report reviewing the broadcaster's Royal Charter.The 65-page document concluded that the broadcaster's governing body, the BBC Trust, had lost the public's confidence and should be replaced by a new unitary board with an independent head.Jessie Norman, Chairman of the Select Committee, said: "The new board needs to address a culture within the BBC that has been widely described as bureaucratic, arrogant and introspective."The report condemned the underhand manner in which former BBC Director of Television, Danny Cohen, orchestrated a 29-signature lobbying letter ahead of Charter renewal."The BBC's website ran, and continues to run, the (lobbying) story as an independent piece of news, without any disclosure in it of the BBC's own coordinating role," said the report."Even after a public newspaper investigation and questions from this Committee revealed the truth, the BBC did not put out an online clarification to this story. The Director-General (Lord Hall) argued that this was simply a case of BBC staff speaking up on behalf of the BBC, when it clearly was not. The Chair of the BBC Trust (Rona Fairhead) refused to accept that the BBC had been in any way at fault on this issue."
'The BBC has decided not to ask its long-serving staff – who, in common with much of the public sector, enjoy guaranteed pension benefits when they retire – for any additional contributionsThe BBC is to pump £740 million of licence fee payers' cash into its pension scheme, to try and close a funding deficit that has nearly doubled over the last three years.According to a new valuation, the deficit in the BBC pension fund – ie, the value of its assets minus its projected liabilities to retiring staff – has grown from £1.1 billion in 2010 to £2bn in 2013.However the BBC has decided not to ask its long-serving staff – who, in common with much of the public sector, enjoy guaranteed pension benefits when they retire – for any additional contributions.As a result, licence-fee payers will be expected to foot the entire bill, at an additional cost of £365million over the next four years.'
'The BBC has decided not to ask its long-serving staff – who, in common with much of the public sector, enjoy guaranteed pension benefits when they retire – for any additional contributionsThe BBC is to pump £740 million of licence fee payers' cash into its pension scheme, to try and close a funding deficit that has nearly doubled over the last three years.According to a new valuation, the deficit in the BBC pension fund – ie, the value of its assets minus its projected liabilities to retiring staff – has grown from £1.1 billion in 2010 to £2bn in 2013.However the BBC has decided not to ask its long-serving staff – who, in common with much of the public sector, enjoy guaranteed pension benefits when they retire – for any additional contributions.As a result, licence-fee payers will be expected to foot the entire bill, at an additional cost of £365million over the next four years.'
'Cutting out management layers, reducing management levels from up to 10 in places to sevenReducing management roles, bringing down the number of senior positions'
"I heard about him (Dave Lee Travis) 20 years ago. A technician somewhere told me that there was a rule at the BBC: Don't leave him alone with a woman."
' The communications systems of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 were deliberately disabled, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak has said.The new evidence, based on satellite and radar tracking of the plane, is "consistent with the deliberate action of someone on the plane", he said.The investigation is "now entering a new phase", he said, focusing on the crew and passengers on board.Flight MH370 disappeared a week ago with 239 people on board.'
'8.
Heisenberg
3 Hours ago
'Harriet Harman: time to consider media ownership cap as low as 15%
Apparently:Shadow culture secretary to say that plurality ensures no private interest can set itself above public interest'
'A media ownership cap as low as 15% across newspapers, broadcasting companies and online sites must be considered to stop companies feeling they are "above the rule of law", according to Harriet Harman.
...
The most fascinating sentence in the whole report was this one:
The Labour frontbencher will call on her Tory counterpart Maria Miller to set up crossparty talks to help push reforms through.
Labour last year proposed a possible 30% limit on ownership within the newspaper industry but suggests that could sit alongside a 15% cap across the media as whole, including "any medium of communication that stands between a creator of content and an audience".'
'News International held 37% of the newspaper market until the closure of the News of the World.'Now can you think of a media organisation that holds an even larger market share in the area of reporting the news?
Leanne BuckleToday is 28 May, somewhat later than mid-May but response I have had not.23 Apr to me
Dear Audience Member The Committee’s decisions of 11 April are written up as minutes and are then ratified at the following month’s meeting before being distributed – so you should receive the Trustees’ decision around mid-May.
Yours faithfully
Leanne Buckle
I am out of the office until Wednesday, 29 May and will respond to your email on my return. Best wishes, Leanne Buckle
