» SubscribeMain section
-
Top story
BBC cuts – the chickens come home to roost
Barry White
DATELINE: 21/10/11
The damage done by the deal made behind closed door last autumn between the coalition government and BBC's director general Mark Thompson becomes more apparent as details of cuts and service alternations are unveiled. With the licence fee frozen until 2017, cuts of 20% are the order of the day. On 6 October the package was revealed under the Orwellian title 'Delivering Quality First' (DQF) - quickly rebranded 'Destroying Quality Forever' by the NUJ. According to the union, 7,000 jobs have already gone at the BBC since 2004. Now two thirds of the savings, some £400m, will fall on staff either through job cuts or cuts to employment terms and conditions.
Half of the 2,000 job cuts are in core BBC editorial and programme making. Eight hundred jobs in News are due to go plus more in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Local radio stations staff are worried that they won't be able to carry on as they face demands for savings of 19%. Out of 380 jobs to go in English regions, 280 will go from local radio. The list of job losses goes on and on.
Just days after the announcement, BBC NUJ representatives met and elected an action committee to co-ordinate the next steps in the industrial, public and political campaign to stop the cuts and defend services. Broadcasting unions were due to meet with BBC management today, but there is a clear feeling that management will press on regardless. How else can you explain the remark made by Mark Thompson at a meeting with BBC staff in Belfast on 14 October when he declared '…if you think you can't do your best work here then leave – no-one is forcing you to stay…'
Alongside the announcement on 6 October, the BBC Trust launched a public consultation on the proposals. The consultations will run until 21 December 2011and details can be found at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/press_releases/october/delivering_quality_first.shtml and related links. The CPBF will be responding to the consultation and urges readers to do likewise and watch the CPBF web site for developments and updates on action.
Last modified: Friday, October 21, 2011
Your comments:
» Click here to add your comment.
Comments will be subject to approval and should not be defamatory, obscene, racist, in breach of copyright, or contrary to law. The CPBF is not reponsible for any views expressed here.
Previous 'future of the BBC...' stories
BBC is risking irreparable damage to 'the best journalism in the world'
The BBC is not part of the problem raised by Hackgate
Supporters speak out against the closure of BBC World Service radio in Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe
BBC – getting its capitulation in first
Union members at the BBC are still willing to fight to defend pensions
Licence fee for 'wasteful' BBC will be cut
BBC Trust rejects 6 Music closure but the campaign goes on
BBC 'failing to provide alternative to commercialised US children's programmes'
Fighting the BBC cuts gets parliamentary support
BBC cuts - make your voice heard
NUJ pledges to fight BBC cuts package
BBC announcement is capitulation to Murdoch
Minister gets the message over licence fee
Dyke in BBC 'conspiracy' claim
BBC's future: a welcome dose of reality
Is BBC News online "next in line" for Conservative cuts?
Keeping Broadcasting Public
Keep Broadcasting Public - Victoria Brittain
Keep broadcasting public - Brendan Barber
Keep broadcasting public - Dr. Georgina Born
A view from the Guardian
Keep Broadcasting Public - observer's report
Keep broadcasting public - Tom O'Malley
Keep broadcasting public - James Purnell MP
BBC Conference Warns Against Complacency
Green Paper, white in parts
Ofcom's remedy is not ours...
Conference presentations can now be read here...
Ofcom's mission to destroy...
First cut or narrow escape?
-
Notices
Events & Announcements
World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
DOWNLOAD FREEPRESS NOW
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Download Freepress in PDF, ePub or mobi format. Issue 194 now available.
MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Papers from the Media for All Conference
MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
-
Previous stories
'future Of The BBC...'
BBC is risking irreparable damage to 'the best journalism in the world'
The BBC is not part of the problem raised by Hackgate
Supporters speak out against the closure of BBC World Service radio in Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe
BBC – getting its capitulation in first
Union members at the BBC are still willing to fight to defend pensions
Licence fee for 'wasteful' BBC will be cut
BBC Trust rejects 6 Music closure but the campaign goes on
BBC 'failing to provide alternative to commercialised US children's programmes'
Fighting the BBC cuts gets parliamentary support
BBC cuts - make your voice heard
NUJ pledges to fight BBC cuts package
BBC announcement is capitulation to Murdoch
Minister gets the message over licence fee
Dyke in BBC 'conspiracy' claim
BBC's future: a welcome dose of reality
Is BBC News online "next in line" for Conservative cuts?
Keeping Broadcasting Public
Keep Broadcasting Public - Victoria Brittain
Keep broadcasting public - Brendan Barber
Keep broadcasting public - Dr. Georgina Born
A view from the Guardian
Keep Broadcasting Public - observer's report
Keep broadcasting public - Tom O'Malley
Keep broadcasting public - James Purnell MP
BBC Conference Warns Against Complacency
Green Paper, white in parts
Ofcom's remedy is not ours...
Conference presentations can now be read here...
Ofcom's mission to destroy...
First cut or narrow escape?
