BBC poised for exodus of senior staff as cuts loom
Fears for the future of ‘Newsnight’ after revamp. By Adam Sherwin
Fears are rising at the BBC that an exodus of senior journalists is under way after the head of the World Service quit and cuts to Newsnight loom large. The Director of the BBC World Service, Liliane Landor, gave notice with a warning that budget cuts are undermining its global role just days after journalist Mark Urban said he was leaving the broadcaster after 34 years.
Landor will leave in the summer, while Urban’s diplomatic editor role will disappear when Newsnight adopts a new debate-led format next month in a revamp which will see 34 jobs go.
Insiders said Newsnight’s “gutting” was ill-timed with
Scoop, the film dramatising the story behind the show’s exclusive interview with Prince Andrew, at number three in Netflix’s viewing charts.
One news figure said: “There are fears that the Newsnight revamp is just a staging post until it is quietly dropped altogether.”
Newsnight is expected to lose most of its specialist editors with the exception of the likes of political editor Nick Watt, who will continue to lead its general election coverage,
i understands. Kirsty Wark
(inset) is stepping back after the election with Victoria Derbyshire continuing as lead presenter.
A “significant number” of Newsnight journalists will remain, with others absorbed elsewhere within the corporation, sources said.
Economics editor Ben Chu is set to join the BBC’s expanding Verify unit. Deputy editor Rosie Seed will take the same role at Radio 4’s The World at One and PM programmes.
A new Newsnight executive editor, Jonathan Aspinwall, who ran the BBC’s News podcasts, has been tasked with ensuring the flagship show continues to attract frontline politicians and makes waves in its reduced 30-minute format.
Described as an “inspirational leader” by director-general Tim Davie, Landor’s departure from her £200,000-a-year role came as a shock to World Service staff.
After cutting 380 jobs and closing 10 radio services, including BBC Persian and BBC Arabic, to meet a £28.5m savings target, Landor warned that the World Service could not bear any further pain.
In an internal memo explaining her decision, Landor wrote: “I remain deeply concerned about the operational capability of the World Service if additional cuts continue to weaken it further.
“Over the past two years we have faced tough choices resulting in cuts which have incrementally impacted our global reach and the breadth of our services.”
The World Service must not be subsumed into the BBC’s wider newsgathering,
Landor warned.
“The essence of the World Service in English and 42 languages needs to be protected. It must be able to retain its distinctive universal voice regardless of how deeply it integrates into the wider
BBC News framework,” she wrote. The World Service’s audience dropped 12 per cent to 318 million, according to the BBC’s 2022-3 annual report.
The reach of its television service fell 19 per cent to 105 million while in radio it dropped nearly a quarter, falling 24 per cent to 121 million. However, the service is still relied upon by millions of people around the world as a trusted source of information – BBC News Arabic launched an emergency radio service for the Gaza Strip in response to the conflict in the region.
In a speech last month, Davie said responsibility for funding the World Service should be transferred back to the Government.
The cost of the Service was paid for by the Foreign Office until 2014. “We cannot keep asking UK licence fee payers to invest in it when we face cuts to UK services,” he said.
BBC names joining an exodus of talent over the past few years include long-standing sports news presenter Garry Richardson, who steps down from his Today programme role after 43 years.
Royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell retired after nearly 50 years, with the BBC set to appoint its first royal editor. Mark Easton and Daniela Relph are said to be in the frame for the high-profile role.
The BBC has previously lost Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel, Andrew Marr and Lewis Goodall to commercial rival Global, the leading radio network and podcast broadcaster.