NUJ warns investigative journalism threatened by BBC cuts
The National Union of Journalists have warned that the latest round of job cuts announced by the BBC, including 40 posts at regional magazine show Inside Out, putting investigative journalism “seriously under threat”.
The cutbacks have been necessitated by a need to deliver £2m in savings under the corporations ‘Delivering Quality First’ initiative and comes on the back of a further 31 job losses in national current affairs.
This will entail the loss of around nine hours of current affairs programming on BBC2 and leave BBC4 to manage without any such content at all.
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “These cuts to regional TV will be a national tragedy. Many stories of great national importance have been broken by regional TV - by journalists on the ground in touch with their local communities. Inside Out is a classic example of what the BBC is all about. It provides a public service by journalists who have a pride in and are passionate about their local communities.” `