A FRESH wave of BBC cuts will cause long-term harm to the organisation and is a "damaging assault on journalism", the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has warned.
As part of efforts to save £300 million by 2027/28, the BBC has announced further cuts to news and programming.
Previous cuts have already resulted in £400 million in savings, including 30 jobs in Scotland.
The latest round of cuts will result in a net loss of 130 job roles, with 185 being culled and 55 created.
Bosses announced that the long-running television programme HARDtalk, which has been on air since 1997, will also end by March 2025.
It’s expected the programme will be replaced by either live news or pre-recorded programming.
In addition, millions of UK radio listeners will now get their overnight news from the BBC World Service – including those on 5 Live, Radio 2 and the BBC’s 39 Local Radio stations.
The NUJ says the change will save only 2.5 jobs yet result in the scrapping of UK-based bulletins which highlight domestic stories.
The majority of night shifts in the London newsroom are also set to be chopped, with the so-called ‘Follow the Sun’ strategy for online news roles resulting in posts opening in Sydney, Australia to boost output for UK mornings.
“These latest cuts represent a damaging assault on journalism and news at a time when the UK needs greater plurality and diversity of news and trust in journalism is under attack at home and abroad,” said NUJ General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet.
THREAD: 1. PERSONAL NEWS: Today BBC News has announced plans to close @BBCHARDtalk after 3 decades holding the world’s politicians and powerbrokers to account. This is sad news for me personally, but much more important, I think it’s depressing news for the BBC🧵
— Stephen Sackur (@stephensackur) October 15, 2024
“Some of these decisions represent comparatively modest savings yet will disproportionately undermine the breadth and range of news content the BBC currently provides.”
No detailed plans on the future of the BBC World Service have been shared, with bosses awaiting to see how much funding it will receive from the UK Government in the Budget.
In 2022, the BBC ended the production of radio output in 10 languages including Chinese and Arabic, with around 380 jobs lost as a result of the changes.
However, there are concerns that the World Service could be set for further cuts as the corporation searches for ways to save money.
“The past year has been one of turbulence for BBC journalists concerned about job security in the face of seemingly endless cost-saving measures,” said Laura Davison, NUJ broadcasting organiser.
“News of 130 net job losses will come as yet another blow to journalists proud to work at our public service broadcaster respected both at home and abroad.
“It is unclear how much journalism at the BBC can withstand without decisive action and investment that recognises the immense benefit of independent, credible news and current affairs programming.
“The inevitable loss of talent will serve as a double whammy to the organisation, where under-resourced teams must now strive to ensure the sustainability of journalism valued by the public.
“As we unpack detail of proposals, we will bring together NUJ reps to consider next steps alongside the scale and impact of these damaging plans.”
The long-standing presenter of HARDtalk, Stephen Sackur, said the announcements were “sad news for me personally, but much more important, I think it’s depressing news for the BBC.”
He added: “At a time when disinformation and media manipulation are poisoning public discourse HARDtalk is unique - a long-form interview show with only one mission: to hold to account those who all too often avoid accountability in their own countries.
“Anyone who has seen our interviews with Hugo Chavez, Sergei Lavrov, Meles Zenawi, Lula, Nancy Pelosi, Recep Tayep Erdogan, Emmanuel Macron, Imran Khan, Olusegan Abasanjo, & countless others over the years will know HARDtalk was never just another news show.
“A brilliant team of producers and researchers is being disbanded just as BBC DG Tim Davie is trying to persuade the British Govt that the journalism of the BBC World Service is such a vital expression of democratic soft power that the taxpayer must fund it.”
