BBC claims it is archiving, not deleting, 11,000 recipes as public take to Twitter
The BBC has been on the receiving end of reports it is to delete its BBC Food website which contains thousands of recipes highly valued by the public, if Twitter’s reaction is anything to go by.
After a media misfire, many outlets reported that BBC Food’s 11,000 recipes were to be taken offline as part of a cost-cutting move.
A BBC source told The Drum instead that the content is to be archived online, and that no further recipes would be added to the collection.
On the move, made in response to the £15m deficit facing the company, the BBC said: “What we do has to be high quality, distinctive, and offer genuine public value.
“While our audiences expect us to be online, we have never sought to be all things to all people and the changes being announced will ensure that we are not."
The move will not affect the BBC Good Food operation, which is not paid for by licence fee, instead existing as a separate paid-for magazine.
This part of the BBC’s commercial wing may well see greater interest as a result of the closure of BBC Food. The broadcaster said web users can instead access BBC Good Food, run by BBC Worldwide, adding it would reduce "confusion and duplication" by having two separate sites.
It comes as the company looks to cut back its 'soft news' content.
A substantial Twitter response followed, making #BBCRecipes the top trending topic in the UK.
How is money saved by removing what is already online? Surely this is symbolic more than anything else #bbcrecipes
— suzanne moore (@suzanne_moore) May 17, 2016
BBC Food's #bbcrecipes cut may also be a blow to people wanting recipes with UK measurements/names online. Harder to find than you think. — Andy Boxall (@AndyBoxall) May 17, 2016
Seems more than 8,000 people have signed the #bbcrecipes petition in the last hour. Keep it going! https://t.co/w4lV1EsnVC — John Prescott (@johnprescott) May 17, 2016
The half-baked deletion of #bbcrecipes in an age of processed food & obesity will be yet another U turn. — Chris Eakin (@ChrisEakinNews) May 17, 2016
Short of axing the Archers, hard to see how the BBC could have been compelled to annoy Middle England more. #bbcrecipes
— Stig Abell (@StigAbell) May 17, 2016
Serious q: Given the tech resources BBC already has to maintain all its other sites, how much more does it cost to keep #bbcrecipes going? — Oliver Duggan (@OliDuggan) May 17, 2016
Meanwhile Foxy Bingo tried to jump on the #Wimbledon and #BBCRecipes hashtags:
#BBCrecipes... Don't be glum! Who's for one of these - just the ticket with #Wimbledon round the corner! pic.twitter.com/qj02H3lMiz
— Foxy Bingo (@foxybingo) May 17, 2016