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BBC slashes news jobs in pivot to digital

The BBC will axe 450 jobs from its news division in a cost-saving plan that will result in cuts at the World Service and its 5Live radio station and in fewer reports being made by analysis show Newsnight.

Jan 30, 2020, updated Jan 30, 2020
Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

The corporation said Wednesday it would reorganise its newsroom along a “story-led” model where staff will be assigned to stories, and not attached to individual programmes.

BBC News said it currently employs around 6000 people, including 1700 outside the UK, but declined to specify how many are journalists.

“We need to reshape BBC News for the next decade in a way which saves substantial amounts of money,” said Fran Unsworth, Director of News and Current Affairs.

“We are spending too much of our resources on traditional linear broadcasting and not enough on digital,” she added in a statement.

The BBC said the cuts, along with others already implemented, would enable it to meet an STG80 million (A$154 million) savings target by 2022.

The BBC said it remained Britain’s must trusted and consumed news service but needed to cater for changing behaviour, such as declining audiences for scheduled news programmes.

The changes will mean a reduction in the overall number of stories covered, it said, but it would invest more in digital news, including a new version of the BBC News app.
 
-AAP

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