cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/26110589
The BBC’s news operation is to cut costs by a steeper-than-expected 15%, with staff told to expect heavy redundancies.
The division, home to about a quarter of all BBC staff, is being saddled with one of the highest cost-cutting targets as the corporation attempts to cut as many as 2,000 jobs in the biggest downsizing of the public service broadcaster in 15 years.
Last month, staff were informed that, on average across the BBC, about 10% of the corporation’s 21,500 employees would be affected as part of a £600m cost-cutting plan, but it was not clear at the time that news operations would see even deeper cuts.
Staff at divisions across the BBC are being informed of the level of cuts, with details to be announced in June, and those affected to be told in September.
Great, so, Sword of Damocles for four months. I’ve played this game, and it isn’t fun.
Of course I hate to see media be gutted like this
But let’s be honest, the BBC also completely fucking sucks. From holding off reporting to ‘not upset Number 10’ to whitewashing Israel’s Genocide through their Jerusalem office, to their blatant transphobia, the BBC is morally bankrupt. They’re trying to appease the right and the far-right when no appeasement will ever satisfy the side that has long ago decided the BBC should burn.
The exact same thing has happened across all of 5 eyes, so I assume all of 14 eyes and probably the rest of the developed world; successive conservative and neoliberal governments have “starved the beast” by cutting public funding, appointing morally bankrupt leadership, etc, etc.
It’s almost like this wholesale destruction of public broadcasting is all by-design of our capitalist oligarchies, to benefit the private media propaganda machines they have constructed in parallel.