Covering US polls, Scots BBC team with a handful of viewers
‘Expensive gesture’ is criticised as Corporation faces budget pressure
THE new BBC Scotland channel’s troubled news show is sending four staff to cover the US election.
James Cook, a presenter on The Nine, will fly to America as part of the ‘small team’ for the Super Tuesday contests tomorrow.
Presented by Martin Geissler and Rebecca Curran, the programme has been criticised for failing to attract viewers.
The audience for the flagship news and current affairs show has fallen as low as 2,700 – close to a zero per cent share of the audience.
The disclosure comes after the Scottish Daily Mail revealed last week that the channel would be spared from job cuts, and is safe for two years.
Cook will also provide material for other outlets, but the news team is being sent by The Nine, as part of its ‘outwardlooking’ agenda.
Professor Tim Luckhurst, media expert and principal of South College, Durham University, criticised the ‘vanity’ move.
He said: ‘The BBC budget is under real pressure. In the circumstances it is hard to justify the deployment of staff to the USA by a minority interest channel serving only Scotland. During the election campaign, the BBC’s excellent correspondents in the USA will be reinforced by expert analysts and reporters from UK network news and current affairs departments.
‘I expect several of them will be Scots and I am certain that all will be capable of filing reports relevant to Scottish viewers, listeners and
‘It looks like editorial vanity’
readers. Sending a team for The Nine alone is an expensive gesture. It looks more like editorial vanity than wise use of scarce resources.
‘The Nine would be better advised to make good use of BBC network resources and the real US political expertise available at Scotland’s top universities.’
Sources say some critics within the corporation in Scotland believe The Nine’s share of the channel’s overall £32million budget – said to be around £7million – is disproportionate.
One BBC source said there was growing anger about funding for the channel, given the row over low viewer numbers and a high volume of repeats.
The insider revealed: ‘There are internal politics here – some people have problems with The Nine.
‘James has been abroad a few times in his current job, but his stuff has also ended up on Good Morning Scotland [the BBC Radio Scotland programme] and network shows, as well as BBC World.’
The BBC in London has ordered the axing of 450 jobs but this only affects network shows, leaving Scotland unaffected.
Network BBC staff covering the US election include Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis and the Corporation’s North America editor, Jon Sopel.
The BBC has been criticised previously for sending several staff to cover the same event – so that the same reporter could produce a report on the same story for radio, television and online.
Corporation chiefs in London are keen to put a stop to the practice as part of an £80million costcutting exercise.
The move also comes as tensions grow between the UK Government and the BBC over the future of the licence fee, which raises nearly £4billion a year.
Cook will be one of the four people sent to the US for Super Tuesday, an important date in America’s election calendar. It refers to the Tuesday in a presidential election year when the largest number of states and territories hold a presidential ‘preference primary’, or caucus.
A BBC Scotland spokesman said: ‘James Cook and a small team of journalists are heading to America to cover Super Tuesday – arguably one of the biggest stories of the year.
‘When The Nine was established, it was always stated that it would be outward-looking, international and show the world through Scottish eyes. Covering the US election on a day where it is possible the Democratic candidate and potential future president may become clear fits firmly within that brief.
‘James will be co-presenting the programme from America and so additional production staff are required.
‘They will not only be producing content for The Nine, but a raft of other BBC Scotland outlets as well as BBC World Service and BBC America.’