[m_in_m]

Changing back to something less serious, it looks as though many were AWOL from the Celebrity Squares at the end of the 10 last night.

It looks as though 'Deep Throat' is presenting from the shadows of an underground car park in one region, Glasgow seem to have lost their feed and the London presenter is still having a cuppa in the canteen as the graphics haven't changed on the tower.

Can someone tell me what 'WMT 107' relates to?

Do they normally do celebrity squares on a Sunday? Also do the gallery not get to see a preview of this before it hitting the button to take it? It feels like that's one to skip and just cut to the nations and regions.

[Stuart]

Do they normally do celebrity squares on a Sunday? Also do the gallery not get to see a preview of this before it hitting the button to take it? It feels like that's one to skip and just cut to the nations and regions.

They use it when the regions/nations follow directly after the 10. I think sometimes there isn't a late regional bulletin on Sundays.

It's of course an excuse to vacate the desk area to allow for the graphic changes on Tower B (and the surround) for the BBC London presenter to slip into place.

[James]

It's of course an excuse to vacate the desk area to allow for the graphic changes on Tower B (and the surround) for the BBC London presenter to slip into place.

I could be mistaken, but don't all weekend London bulletins come from D (for some reason)?

[thegeek]

Can someone tell me what 'WMT 107' relates to?

WMT is a Mobile Viewpoint product that uses bonded cellular to transmit video - similar to LiveU, etc al. I've never been sure what WMT stands for - wireless multimedia terminal maybe?

The decoder lets you use custom slates when nothing's connected, which is what you're seeing here. Not sure why it's ended up here though - I have a vague memory about Jersey maybe using it for contributions?

[lookoutwales]

OFCOM has rejected two complaints from ex-Al Jazeera / TVNZ presenter Kamahl Santamaria alleging unfair treatment against him in the BBC's reporting of allegations of harassment and bullying at Al Jazeera.

www.ofcom.org.uk 

[steve]

WMT is a Mobile Viewpoint product that uses bonded cellular to transmit video - similar to LiveU, etc al. I've never been sure what WMT stands for - wireless multimedia terminal maybe?

The decoder lets you use custom slates when nothing's connected, which is what you're seeing here. Not sure why it's ended up here though - I have a vague memory about Jersey maybe using it for contributions?

Definitely looks like someone's called up the weekday celebrity squares selection - you have Jersey (the WMT slate), London from B (it's in D at the weekend) and Scotland haven't cut up the right feed to send to London.

Some miscommunication somewhere, for sure.

[LDN]

Another chapter in the long-running story of bizarre decision-making and questionable management at BBC News -- particularly in relation to issues of recruitment and HR (see also: the 'exiled' five; the Huw Edwards debacle; the high-profile hiring of Yalda Hakim, who loved working at the new BBC News channel so much that she left four months later; etc).

And now:

deadline.com 

BBC Goes Back To Drawing Board In Search For First Royal Editor
BBC News has advertised externally for its first royal editor after apparently p…
  Source: deadline.com

A couple of key quotes from that Deadline report:

The BBC has advertised the royal editor post externally for the first time, just days after it was expected to be offered to either Mark Easton, BBC News’ home editor, or royal correspondent Daniela Relph.

Several sources said Easton, a vastly experienced BBC journalist, was asked to complete a written test as part of his application process, which one person said sounded like a “GCSE English” exam.

Uhhh... WTF?

That second quote, in particular, reminds me of similar complaints made regarding the recruitment process for the merged channel, with obviously capable and tremendously experienced journalists having their most basic abilities and professionalism tested like they were unproven n00bs applying fresh from university.

[Keith]

Another chapter in the long-running story of bizarre decision-making and questionable management at BBC News -- particularly in relation to issues of recruitment and HR (see also: the 'exiled' five; the Huw Edwards debacle; the high-profile hiring of Yalda Hakim, who loved working at the new BBC News channel so much that she left four months later; etc).

And now:

deadline.com 

This wouldn't be the first time that BBC News have recruited externally, instead of simply opting for an internal candidate.

Surely external candidates are likely to demand a higher salary than an internal candidate. It's also unsurprising why some BBC News staff may be unhappy with them opting for external recruitment, considering the recent redundancies over the couple years.

The 'written test' part if true sounds like a HR attempt to be seen to be fair to everyone. It's probably a generic thing designed to include all BBC News posts, particularly for overseas positions, where English may not be the person's first language. However, it overlooks common sense of looking at the candidate's back catalogue of work, which for internal candidates would surely be easy for the BBC to do.

[PJamo]

Not to say that there isn't necessarily an obvious candidate or 2 inside the organisations and from otside this looks like a wholly inefficient exercise but..........................................

When it comes to employment in publicly-funded bodies there seems to (in general) be a fairly broad issue with the efficiency with which posts are filled.

Despite the obvious (and some would argue) most deserving candidate being right there on payroll already, oftentimes when the 'new' post is in some way different from that which it replaces (maybe a change or responsibility, grading - or changes of what responsibility means for the grading compared to the last time the job was appointed, or contracted hours) it will be externally advertised.

You only have to look at recruitment in other publicly funded bodies to see examples of posts being advertised with one very obvious candidate sitting right there, often already doing the job that is being advertised. The post will still have to be advertised externally, allowing for candidates from far and wide, and the 'internal' candidate will still have to go through the exact same application and recruitment process as everyone else, despite the actual people who will be responsible for appointing to the role having worked with them for some time by that stage.

Does it see fair to the person already in position? No.

Does it seem like a waste of time and resources? Yes.

Can it be argued that somebody 'external' didn't get a fair shot? No.

When it's public funds I think that last line's the key decider for how these things play out.

[all new phil]

Sorry, am I missing something here? A vacancy is being advertised and that’s seen as a bad thing..? Literally every job should be advertised, otherwise you end up with a culture of people just hiring their mates.