BBC's Thompson 'angry at review leak'

BBC director general Mark Thompson has told staff that he's "incredibly angry" about the leak of his strategy review and will launch a "full investigation" to find the source.

On February 26, The Times carried virtually all details of Thompson's Putting Quality First report ahead of its initially planned March 9 publishing date.

The leak forced the BBC to move its announcement forward and led to anger from broadcast and journalism unions about the potential job cuts involved.

Thompson's strategy review controversially called for the closure of digital radio stations 6 Music and the Asian Network, along with a halving of the corporation's web pages.

Due to the extensive and accurate nature of The Times article, it seems likely that the newspaper had been shown most if not all of the report by someone within the BBC.

According to Broadcast, Thompson told staff in a message on the BBC's Intranet that he will launch a "full investigation" to find who was responsible for the leak.

"I'm incredibly angry. A full investigation is underway to identify the source of the leak. It's incredibly irritating and upsetting," he said.

"Whether staff are going to like or not like what's said, I want to be the person who tells my colleagues what's planned."

Up to 600 jobs could be cut under Thompson's strategy review, but the BBC hopes that transferable opportunities within the corporation will reduce that figure.