Mark Thompson loses his cool

With a strike looming over pension changes, the BBC Trust firing off announcements left, right and centre and the government squeezing the Beeb, is it any wonder director general Mark Thompson appeared to be at the end of his tether at today's Royal Television Society international conference? As Thommo was leaving to go to a meeting, journalists gathered around him to ask follow-up questions on his session, as they had done of culture secretary Jeremy Hunt. The Times's media correspondent, Patrick Foster, told Thompson that Hunt had earlier revealed that publishing BBC stars' salaries would be part of the discussions about the next licence fee settlement. "I didn't hear it," said Thommo. When Foster offered to read out what Hunt had said, Thompson looked exasperated and walked off. It reminded Monkey of Lord Sugar's infamous reaction to a question about the recession.