British public broadcaster BBC has announced job cuts in its news and current affairs departments that will save it £24 million. A net total of 155 jobs will be lost, BBC News reported, with the move part of wider efforts to reduce costs by £700 million a year across the corporation. In an email to employees, the CEO of BBC News, Ms Deborah Turness, said it would seek to cut 185 roles and open 55 new ones, the Guardian reported. This would result in a net loss of 130 journalism jobs. An additional 25 employees in technical roles, such as camera operators, are also at risk. The £24 million saved represents 4 per cent of the BBC’s news budget, Ms Turness added.
The layoffs are part of a broader plan by the BBC to cut 500 jobs across the corporation by March 2026 to create a total of £700m in annual savings relative to 2022, BBC News said. As of March 31, the BBC’s public service headcount was at about 17,600, according to the Press Gazette, a journalism industry news source. Among the casualties announced on Tuesday was BBC News’ flagship current affairs interview programme HARDtalk. Its Asian Network news service will also close. The number of digital jobs in time zones outside the United Kingdom’s will, however, be increased, with some new positions opening in Sydney, BBC News reported.
The BBC’s latest announcement made no mention of its World Service, which has already seen cuts to its foreign language services including its Chinese, Arabic and Persian services. The BBC World Service delivers output in 42 languages and reaches around 320 million people worldwide every week. For years it was funded through grants by the British government’s foreign ministry. But since 2014, it has been predominantly funded by the television licence fee paid by British households. The World Service has agreed not to close any language services under its current support package, but that condition is due to be lifted next year. In April this year, a UK parliamentary inquiry was launched into the future funding of the service. It was due to inspect its role as a soft power and look to establish whether increased government support was needed.
Source: CNA/AFP/ec(kg)
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