news Job cuts at the BBC World Service


THE BBC World Service is to cut 130 jobs, including in the UK, in a move to save £6 million a year. The corporation, which


was boosted by more than £32 million in extra funding for its World Service from the Foreign Office, blamed the latest cuts on the impact of previous licence-fee freezes, inflation and the necessity to maintain and update technological and digital infrastructure. It also said that it is


competing against international news organisations with much bigger budgets meaning that there is “increased competition for staff, platforms and frequencies, and audiences”. The job cuts, which the


BBC says it is trying to implement on a voluntary basis where possible, will involve closing posts in the


UK and internationally and in BBC Monitoring, which reports and analyses news from around the world. The cuts come as the chairs


of three House of Commons committees called on the Foreign Office and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to push the Treasury to rebalance the


contributions from the licence fee and the Foreign Office so that the BBC World Service is able to be less dependent on the licence fee. The signatories of the


letter from the committee chairs to the departments are Dame Emily Thornberry MP, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee; Dame


Caroline Dinenage, MP Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee and Sarah Champion MP Chair of the International Development Committee. Laura Davison, NUJ


general secretary, said the cuts “serve as yet another blow to journalists at the BBC. Proposals will see the


Further action on SLAPPS is ruled out


THE GOVERNMENT has said that it “does not intend to legislate further in the current parliamentary session” against SLAPPs (strategic litigation against public participation) – lawsuits used


by wealthy individuals to silence journalists or other critics.


It made the statement in a


response to the report on the future of news by the House of Lords communications and


digital committee which was published in November. The government was also


cautious in its approach to supporting local journalism. It said it is considering ways of strengthening local media


including financial help in the form of innovation funding and tax relief. However, it stressed that it must be “mindful of the current fiscal climate”. The Lords committee report


loss of talented and experienced journalists committed to the unrivalled journalism produced by the World Service and relied upon by countries globally. The freezing of the licence fee has had a profound impact still felt acutely today; we need a commitment from government to provide long-term sustainable funding that allows the provision by teams, including over 40 language services, to thrive. “It is wrong journalists are


once more bearing the brunt of changes at a time when the BBC’s journalism and soft power is needed more than ever.”


The NUJ BBC World Service


branch passed a motion opposing the job cuts. The motion said: “NUJ members at the BBC World Service object to the BBC’s decision to cut the World Service budget by £6 million a year. This decision is bad for the BBC, bad for Britain, and bad for the world.”


had warned of the development of a two-tier media environment. That would mean that the best journalism was happening behind paywalls for those able to pay for it and everyone else would be served by low quality free information.


UK and US media job losses neared 4,000 last year


JOB CUTS in UK and US journalism totalled nearly 4,000 last year although this was half the previous year’s toll, according to analysis by the Press Gazette. The online media magazine said that at least 3,875 redundancies and layoffs


across newspaper, news broadcaster and digital media businesses were announced or reported in 2024. This compares to the at least 8,000 journalism job cuts made in the UK and


North America in 2023. At least three-quarters of the job losses were carried out in the US last year. The biggest single round of job losses was at The Messenger, the digital news


start-up that folded affecting around 300 jobs, followed by the Associated Press decision to cut eight per cent of staff, mostly in the US. In the UK, the biggest round was at the Evening Standard which made about 150 cuts when it decided to close its daily paper and print only on Thursdays.


theJournalist | 03 NUJ


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