BBC shakeup targets 4,800 jobs by Elizabeth Renzetti
Source : Globe & Mail
December 8, 2004
LONDON -- Almost 3,000 staff at the BBC will lose their jobs and another 1,800 will be relocated from London in a sweeping shakeup at the world's largest public broadcaster.
The job cuts, which account for about 10 per cent of the BBC's work force, will occur mainly in non-programming areas such as finance and human resources, BBC director-general Mark Thompson revealed to staff yesterday in west London.
However, it is widely expected that another round of cuts, which may include programming, news and current affairs, will be announced in the new year. Thompson aims to save £320-million ($750-million) a year with these measures.
Thompson, who once famously accused the broadcaster of bathing in a "Jacuzzi of cash," said yesterday that the BBC "must undergo nothing short of a transformation."
The man who began his BBC career as a production trainee in 1979 said: "There is an amazing creative prize for the BBC and our audience -- but it's a prize that comes at a price."
Thompson added that he would be seeking savings of 15 per cent in each of the news, new media, radio and music, and TV departments over three years. The BBC will also move its sports and children's departments and Radio Five to its new broadcast centre in Manchester in a bid to make the broadcaster more nationally relevant.
The shakeup is being implemented at a watershed time for the BBC. It has to position itself for the challenges of a digital broadcast market and is also cleaning house in preparation for the review of its government charter in 2006.
The BBC receives most of its money through a £121 ($284) annual licence fee , levied upon everyone in the United Kingdom with a television set. It is thought that Thompson wants to ask the government for an annual increase in the licence fee, and must appear to be slashing fat in order to justify the increase.
"I know these are hard messages," Thompson told reporters after the announcement. He added that he hoped staff would realize that "realistically, this is the only way to guarantee a really strong BBC in the future."
Thompson said his plan for revamping the BBC includes putting more resources into drama, comedy, music and news, while also transforming the BBC into "a state-of-the-art digital broadcaster."
A union spokesman expressed disappointment with the announcement. "The programs don't make themselves," said Gerry Morrissey, a spokesman for the Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU). "They need committed staff."
The BBC and its reputation for authoritative news have had a rocky year. Last week, it was revealed that a BBC report on compensation for victims of the Bhopal disaster was a hoax. The network broadcast an interview with a man claiming to be a representative of Dow Chemical Co., who promised billions of dollars in relief for victims of the Indian chemical disaster. The man turned out to be an impostor.
In January, the Hutton report on the death of government scientist David Kelly faulted the BBC's senior managers for failing to properly oversee newsgathering. The BBC's chairman Gavyn Davies and its director, Greg Dyke, both left their jobs in the wake of the report. In August, Dyke released a blistering memoir about his departure.
Despite these high-profile upheavals, the BBC has been successful with much of its programming, especially in the realm of comedy, with hit shows such as The Office, The Smoking Room and Little Britain.
