C4 News staff warn of 'two-tier' newsroom

Channel 4 News was reportedly in crisis last night after a leaked letter revealed staff outrage at the "incredibly erosive" plans to transform the broadcaster.

Changes proposed by management for the nightly news programme include the creation of an elite group of 15 presenters, including Jon Snow and Krishnan Guru-Murthy, dubbed the "news team".

The move would mean that around a dozen on-camera staff, who previously held equal standing on the 'Meet The Team' section of the Channel 4 News site, would be demoted to the 'About Channel 4 News' page.

More than 20 staff, including on-screen presenters Samira Ahmed, Katie Razzall and Cathy Newman, have put their names to a letter sent to the programme's editor Jim Gray and his deputy Martin Fewell warning of a "them and us" culture developing at Channel 4 News.

Signatories to the letter include presenter Alex Thomson and economics editor Faisal Islam, who are both listed on the "news team".

The letter, leaked to Broadcast magazine, said that the current situation of staff shortages at Channel 4 News makes it even more imperative for employees to feel they are "all in this together".

It added: "We feel that it is time that there is more of a feeling of mutuality. We believe that we need to feel that 'we are all in this together' as opposed to the 'them and us' culture that has now developed in this newsroom.

"We still want to hear from you how you will address this sense of a two-tier newsroom - where some reporters are more important than others - which has been incredibly erosive and divisive for on-screen staff."

The protest letter has taken the shine off a good week for Channel 4 News, which secured 13 nominations at the 2011 Royal Television Society journalism awards.

In a statement, a Channel 4 News spokesman defended the changes, which are part of a "process of evolution" launched in 2009.

"They are designed so that we can continue to deliver the very best news programme on TV, are long standing and are not a reaction to external events," he said.

"We are pleased that they are already paying dividends - as evidenced by more RTS nominations than any other news programme this year.

"This is the next stage of that process, and whilst we acknowledge that change provides challenges for any organisation, we are glad to have a renewed investment from the channel to deliver this plan and open communication with what we think is the best production team in the business."