NUJ condemns BBC cuts proposals

The NUJ has called on BBC Director General Mark Thompson to halt plans to axe thousands of jobs and cut programme-making budgets in the wake of the launch of the Government's Green Paper on the future of the BBC.
The NUJ has welcomed plans for the renewal of the charter, the commitment to funding by the licence fee until at least 2016 and the BBC's role in promoting digital take-up, but the NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear warned that all the plans to ensure the BBC would be the cornerstone of public service broadcasting would be dreams unless adequate resources were made available to the BBC and the cuts which threaten thousands of job losses were halted.
Dear said: "This announcement cannot be divorced from the damaging exercise in self-harm being carried out by the BBC's senior managers.
"While we welcome the 10-year Charter and ruling out of top slicing, the level of any licence fee settlement is critical to delivering the BBC's objectives.
"Cutting thousands of jobs, damaging programme-making capacity and privatising important sections of the BBC is no blueprint for a strong, independent BBC.
"Some have suggested the cuts are the result of a cosy understanding between management and the Government to downsize the BBC in the face of commercial and political pressure. If so, it is too heavy a price to pay."
(GB/CD)