BBC to close Ariel print newspaper after 75 years

The BBC's long-running internal newspaper Ariel is to publish its final print edition later in the year as the corporation's communications department prepares for a restructure that will cost 30 jobs.

Ariel, which was first published 75 years ago, will release its last print edition in December before being available exclusively online with a significantly reduced staff, reports Journalism.co.uk.

The BBC's communications department is being restructured as part of the Delivering Quality First (DQF) strategy, which will result in nearly 2,000 job losses by 2016/17 as the corporation seeks to make savings of £670 million.

Despite being an internal title, Ariel has often made it into the mainstream media over the years with its stories, such as the announcement of cuts to the BBC Comedy team and a letter published from BBC World Affairs editor John Simpson criticising the new BBC licence fee settlement agreed last year.

It is understood that the Ariel team will lose four jobs in total in the switch to an online-only publication.

Candida Watson, editor of Ariel for the past two years, said that the closure of the newspaper "pales into insignificance" in the context of the "savage cuts" being inflicted in other areas of the BBC.

However, she added: "That doesn't make it any less of a shock to the long-serving staff who produce Ariel, to our regular correspondents who make the letters page a thing of occasional joy and frequent conversation, or to those of you who like to pick up the paper and read it quietly in a break, or take it to read on the journey home. And how will certain tabloids fill their diary columns now?"

Watson noted that some BBC staff would see the closure of Ariel as a "none too subtle way of diminishing internal criticism of BBC management". But she added that it was "hard to argue" for a licence fee-funded internal newspaper at a time of major austerity at the corporation.

In a statement, BBC director general Mark Thompson said: "The Ariel newspaper has been an important part of the BBC's history for 75 years and like many of you I will be sad the paper version has to close as part of DQF savings.

"However, I am pleased that it will live on online, reflecting the lives, issues and challenges that we face every day."

Last week, Thompson was criticised by the broadcast and journalism unions after telling employees at a meeting in Belfast that "no-one is forcing you to stay" at the corporation.