NUJ: 'BBC being destroyed by 1,000 cuts'

The National Union of Journalists has claimed that the BBC is being "destroyed in an onslaught of a thousand cuts", following the announcement of more job losses at the corporation.

Yesterday, the BBC announced that a further 31 posts are to go from its current affairs teams in London and Manchester.

According to the BBC, a new mix of contract and full time employees will mean broadly the same number of people working on current affairs programming, but give greater flexibility to cope with the peaks and troughs in the production cycle.

Clive Edwards, commissioning editor of BBC TV current affairs, accepted that the cuts will be tough for staff, but insisted that the unit will "continue to produce programmes of the very highest quality and impact".

The current affairs cuts bring the total number of job losses at the BBC to more than 1,000, following announcements of the loss of up to 360 posts at BBC Online and the planned reduction of BBC World Service headcount by around 650 posts

The BBC is targeting budget savings of 20% by 2017 as it copes with its new licence fee deal, which has cut the corporation's income by 16% in real terms. Under the agreement, the BBC will also have to take on new financial obligations, including World Service and Welsh-language channel S4C.

However, the NUJ condemned the announcement of fresh job losses, arguing that the cuts are reducing the BBC's ability to deliver on its core mission to "inform, educate and entertain".

NUJ deputy general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: "The proposed cuts to BBC current affairs are a further legacy of the supine approach of one of the world's leading broadcasters to the coalition government.

"Slate by slate and floor by floor, an outstanding broadcasting service which took more than 90 years to build is being destroyed in an onslaught of a thousand cuts.

"The attacks on current affairs staff are further reducing the ability of the BBC to deliver on its sacred pledge to the public: to inform, educate and entertain."