news BBC at risk of ‘doom spiral’ amid new cuts


THE BBC risks becoming trapped in a ‘doom spiral’, harming both workers and audiences, the union has said.


The latest job cuts announced in September follow a series of similar actions throughout the year. In April, BBC management announced plans to cut between 1,800 and 2,000 jobs as part of a 10 per cent reduction to its total costs. In June, it said it would cut 550 roles - including around 200 in BBC News and 250 in BBC Nations - plus TV and radio programmes such as Radio 4’s The World Tonight and the World Service’s The Conversation. September’s cuts particularly affected local and sports services and BBC Wales, putting hundreds at risk of redundancy. In July, the NUJ urged the


BBC to reconsider its decision to cut dedicated foreign correspondents covering 14 European countries. The BBC has also


motion instructing the TUC to press the UK government to intervene to stop cuts to public service broadcasters and to mobilise public


The BBC campaign has called for a new charter to include sufficient and secure funding and vital governance reforms, including proper representation and real independence.


withdrawn its promise of jobs for apprentices working in BBC News - a programme designed to help increase representation and entry routes into journalism, particularly for young people from diverse working class backgrounds. At the TUC Congress in


September, delegates passed a composited NUJ


support for BBC workers. The NUJ has also created a template letter for members to send to their MPs, urging them to sign our Early Day Motion, and launched a joint union petition.


The cuts which have been proposed by management come at a time when BBC Charter Renewal is underway. The NUJ’s Back


Last month the NUJ also held a conference on the future of Welsh public interest journalism, where calls were made for sustainable BBC funding to ensure access to representative local reporting. At the conference, Wales First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “If we want a sustainable media, we need to invest in people. We need good jobs, proper training opportunities for young people to enter the profession, and diversity in our newsrooms.”


TUC news P6-7; Wales NUJ conference P8.


Reach job cuts are ‘self sabotage’


THE union has condemned plans by Reach plc - the UK and Ireland’s largest news publisher - to cut hundreds of jobs as an act of self- sabotage. The NUJ Reach chapel has passed a vote of no confidence in the management’s editorial leadership.


The company - which publishes local and national titles including the Mirror, Daily Record, and the Manchester Evening News announced plans to cut 220 full-time equivalent editorial jobs, while creating 60 new roles. The result is a net reduction of around 160 jobs.


Reach has not specified where the cuts will fall and the union is seeking clarity on its plans. However, it did confirm the closure of three online titles: AberdeenLive, KentLive, and GalwayBeo. The company blamed wider industry decline and rapid shifts in news consumption


habits, with AI overviews and changes to Google algorithms resulting in a major loss of traffic.


The publishing group remains a profitable company, despite its £60 million-a-year pension deficit payments commitment. It has promised a £96 million


Victory as Met Police delete data


THE Metropolitan Police have said that they have deleted data relating to photographers and video journalists at the centre of a long legal battle over the collection of information and use on police databases.


The confirmation follows action by the NUJ and the solicitors Bhatt Murphy referencing a European Court of Human Rights ruling in 2019 which said that the police could only retain data about journalists if it is necessary, proportionate and subject to proper safeguards. Jason Parkinson, a video journalist, said: “In my case it was 144 separate logs spanning the first eight years of my job as a


video journalist, between 2005 to 2013, where I was labelled extreme left wing and some of the logs suggested I was also the subject of some covert surveillance. This is a win for press freedom and for all members of the press in the UK to be able to work freely without interference from the state.” Photographer David Hoffman said: “Being labelled a domestic extremist by the Met when I was simply trying to report on public events was chilling. The tiny amount of data disclosed to me under the Data Protection Act was riddled with inaccuracies. The undisclosed data was in all probability equally inaccurate.”


theJournalist | 03 “


If we want a sustainable media, we need to invest in people. We need good jobs, proper training for young people


Rhun ap Iorwerth Wales First Minister


operating profit this year. Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said: “This is an act of self- sabotage. A sustainable business model relies on quality journalism. And quality journalism relies on having skilled journalists who can ask questions, uncover stories, verify facts, hold power to account, and reflect community voices.”


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