The United Kingdom’s public broadcaster, BBC, announced this Tuesday that it will cut 155 jobs in its news division, BBC News, to “balance the books” and save 24 million pounds (28.8 million euros) from its current budget.
This was confirmed by the executive director of BBC News, Deborah Turness, in an internal statement echoed by British media, where she explained that this decision, which covers 4% of the corporation’s budget for news, is part of a strategy to major cuts.
The strategic plan aims to eliminate a total of 500 jobs at the network by March 2026, which would allow the BBC to save up to 700 million pounds (840 million euros) a year.
“As with all parts of the BBC, News and Current Affairs needs to contribute to those savings to balance the books and ensure future reinvestment,” Turness wrote, amid uncertainty over the future of the license fee funding model. television.
National Union of Journalists (NUJ) general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said these cuts “represent a damaging attack on journalism and news at a time when the UK needs greater plurality and diversity of news and trust in the Journalism is under attack at home and abroad.”
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Government contributes a quarter of BBC World’s budget
185 positions in the news division will be eliminated and 55 new ones will be created, which represents a net reduction of 130 jobs; to which are added another 25 jobs that will be reduced in the media operations area.
The cuts will lead to the cancellation of the global talk show ‘Hard Talk’, one of BBC News’ flagship broadcasts since 1997 and currently presented by Stephan Sacklur, who is leaving the network.
The closure of the bespoke news service ‘Asian Network News’ is also expected, as well as the elimination of jobs in London to benefit other locations such as Sydney (Australia) and opt for more digital roles in time zones outside the United Kingdom. .
These cuts do not include the global news service, BBC World, which has already cut positions in its Chinese and Arabic divisions, as the BBC is currently in talks with the Government about its future funding.
Currently, the Government provides approximately a quarter of BBC World’s £366 million (€439.2 million) budget – the rest is mainly funded by the television license fee.
However, the British broadcaster has asked for an increase in the amount and a decision is expected to be made at the end of October.
With information from EFE.
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