MUMBAI: The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) news has announced that it would save ?48 million a year across the BBC News Group by the financial year 2016-17. However, BBC World Services Budget will witness a boost of ?5 million by 2016-17, from the existing budget of ?245 million this year.
BBC (World Service) will recreate the position of Controller, World Service English, to lead World Service radio editorially. It will make savings to reinvest in new languages TV and digital priorities and manage inflation, which will go with their strategy ‘invest to innovate’. In World Service, BBC will invest ?13 million in digital journalism and the development of further language TV services, over the next three years.
BBC News and Current Affairs director James Harding said, “Taking nearly ?50 million out of a well-run organisation that provides high quality news services that are trusted, relied upon and used by millions of people is an extremely difficult undertaking. The challenge is how to make BBC News even better, despite having less money.”
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Overall, BBC has proposed measures like restructuring the division and investing in the digital transformation and original journalism. The proposals will result to 415 job-cuts which would be equalised by 195 new roles being created through reinvestment.
Harding further added, “We are living through a period of extraordinary change in news media. BBC News led the way first in radio, then in television and then online. Now, digital technologies offer us the opportunity to lead a fourth revolution in news. So, as well as setting out our savings plan this morning, we are also announcing proposals to restructure news and target investments in our future – in the digital transformation of BBC News, in our own original and distinctive journalism, in making this a better place to work.”
