The BBC Trust yesterday unanimously approved plans to cut thousands of jobs, sell off its west London headquarters and reduce the number of programmes it makes by a tenth.
The radical overhaul immediately sparked a furious backlash from staff likely to strike within weeks, with feelings running particularly high in the news and factual divisions where job losses will run into four figures.
Chairman Sir Michael Lyons said he was satisfied the package put forward by the director general, Mark Thompson, during a four-hour meeting would "safeguard the core values of the BBC at a time of radical change in technology, markets and audience expectations".
But, if the BBC is indeed strapped for cash, it is perhaps surprising that earlier this month it blew £100 million on acquiring 75% of the Lonely Planet publisher of travel guides (see here). Furthermore, the same BBC Trust that approved yesterday's proposals also specifically approved the Lonely Planet acquisition. No doubt it is all part of the process of safeguarding the BBC's core values ...
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