The Foreign Office (FCO) has launched disciplinary action against a member of staff after a somewhat surprising headline appeared on its website today.
The announcement that the FCO has pledged an additional £2.2 million in funding to the World Service was titled: “Massive U-turn on BBC World Service funding”.
Obviously not the kind of language government departments normally clothe their massive U-turns in.
A spokesperson for the FCO said: “A web article with an incorrect and inappropriate title was up on the FCO website for 10 minutes this morning. That title absolutely did not represent the views of the FCO. This error has now been corrected and disciplinary procedures have been launched.”
Full Journalism.co.uk story on the World Service funding announcement at this link.
Image courtesy of Tim Montgomerie at Conservative Home.
Well giving back £2.2 million after slashing £30 odd million from the budget hardly strikes me as a massive U turn. Mind you if I’d been going down the career suicide route at the FCO I might have had more fun with that headline; ‘Slaphead Tyke in World Service U Turn Humiliation’ works better, but hey I guess the FCO doesn’t employ top notch subs…