He's been in the media spotlight this week but BBC director general Mark Thompson still found time to deliver the Bob Friend Memorial Lecture at the University of Kent at Medway.

He presented the Sky News scholarship to journalism student Daniel May before addressing the audience. Last year's winner Alan McGuinness reports.

The Director General of the BBC Mark Thompson has defended the corporation's decision to close 6 Music and the BBC Asian Network.

Mr Thompson said the BBC should be given some credit for being decisive.

The closure of the two stations has caused an outcry. Over 100,000 people have either joined Facebook groups or signed petitions expressing their opposition to the move, which was announced on Tuesday as part of BBC's strategic review.

Mr Thompson stressed that the BBC serves 60 million people and that a balance between competing audiences had to be struck. He said: "Quite often the BBC is criticised for not making choices - 'You always want to do everything, you never stop doing anything'.

"I would just say to people: Whatever your views about 6 Music are, at least give us the credit for sometimes saying 'from now on...on balance, we think it's the right thing to do to stop doing something."

Mr Thompson also acknowledged that there were areas in which the BBC can improve. "There are plenty of areas where we know we can do better: Science, the environment, public services, the arts and religion," he said.

He also reaffirmed the BBC's commitment to funding current affairs and investigative journalism. "We want to go on putting money into serious current affairs and moments of debate on television and radio."

Mr Thompson ended his lecture by saying that despite the doom and gloom in the journalism industry he believes Daniel May, the winner of this year's Bob Friend Memorial Scholarship, and his fellow students at the Centre for Journalism can emulate Bob Friend, who began his career in Kent.

Daniel will have his first-year tuition fees paid for by Sky News and will spend a month working there in the summer.

"When you read and hear about what's going on in media it can sound like getting a job, getting a foothold is harder than it's ever been," Mr Thompson said.

"I think this is going to be a time of opportunity. I think as things change and in particular media organisations realise they're going to need people among them who are part of these new generations and understand this media from the inside rather than the outside.

"I think it's going to be a wonderful world to work in and a wonderful career. I hope that you find your place and find fantastic vibrant careers and that your careers can be as varied and as valuable and as memorable as the career of the man who this lecture is named after."