News / International
BBC strike disrupts news programmes across TV and radio
01 Aug 2011 at 15:29hrs | Views
The BBC's news programmes across television and radio were disrupted on Monday because of a 24-hour strike by journalists.
BBC1's Breakfast was broadcast in a stripped-down format, while BBC Radio 4's Today started an hour later than usual at 7am.
Radio 4's schedule was severely affected by the strike – called by the National Union of Journalists, in protest at compulsory redundancies – with PM, The World at One, and You and Yours all casualties of the industrial action.
BBC Radio 5 Live's morning schedule was also hit, with Up All Night replaced by pre-recorded programmes.
But some of the BBC's big name presenters were on air this morning, including John Humphrys on Today and Nicky Campbell on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) are angry at around 100 compulsory job losses at the World Service and Monitoring division, which monitors mass media worldwide, as the broadcaster seeks to make huge savings.
NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said she expected the strike, which began at midnight, to be "very solidly supported" by the organisation's 3 000 union members.
The World Service announced in January it was cutting 650 jobs as the government withdrew funding as part of an austerity drive, under which the BBC is seeking to cut its budget by 16% in the next few years.
A BBC spokesperson responded: "We are disappointed that the NUJ is intending to strike and apologise to our audience for any disruption to services this may cause.
"We will continue with our efforts to reduce the need for compulsory redundancies, however, the number of posts that we are having to close means that unfortunately it is likely to be impossible for us to avoid some compulsory redundancies," added the spokesperson.
BBC1's Breakfast was broadcast in a stripped-down format, while BBC Radio 4's Today started an hour later than usual at 7am.
Radio 4's schedule was severely affected by the strike – called by the National Union of Journalists, in protest at compulsory redundancies – with PM, The World at One, and You and Yours all casualties of the industrial action.
BBC Radio 5 Live's morning schedule was also hit, with Up All Night replaced by pre-recorded programmes.
But some of the BBC's big name presenters were on air this morning, including John Humphrys on Today and Nicky Campbell on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) are angry at around 100 compulsory job losses at the World Service and Monitoring division, which monitors mass media worldwide, as the broadcaster seeks to make huge savings.
NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said she expected the strike, which began at midnight, to be "very solidly supported" by the organisation's 3 000 union members.
The World Service announced in January it was cutting 650 jobs as the government withdrew funding as part of an austerity drive, under which the BBC is seeking to cut its budget by 16% in the next few years.
A BBC spokesperson responded: "We are disappointed that the NUJ is intending to strike and apologise to our audience for any disruption to services this may cause.
"We will continue with our efforts to reduce the need for compulsory redundancies, however, the number of posts that we are having to close means that unfortunately it is likely to be impossible for us to avoid some compulsory redundancies," added the spokesperson.
Source - Sapa
