Keep the faith

Paul Mason, Newsnight's economics editor, has now left the building - with a fine farewell documentary on Northern Soul, complete with some dodgy dancing, 24 first-rate tracks, and unposed questions about Paul's possible use of diet pills.

He's also filmed a valedictory interview for the BBC's journalists to mull over - this is an edited transcript of his final thoughts on how things have changed during his twelve years with Auntie.

A more diverse set of people now get to be editorial leaders. But the organisation can still feel like it is set up to be led by a kind of patrician elite. There can be a jarring sometimes between newer, younger editorial management and the way the organisation responds to commands and requests. The danger sometimes is that the signals that come from the top are “don’t mess up,” (sometimes put a bit more forcefully), whereas the signals should be from the outside world, saying “you’re not ordinary enough, you’re not believable enough, you’re not innovating enough.”

If I said one thing on leaving this building, it would be: become more receptive to those signals.