[Swprograms] CBC News - BBC CUTS 2,050 JOBS

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BBC CUTS 2,050 JOBS 
WebPosted Mon Mar 21 12:00:13 2005

London---The British Broadcasting Corporation announced Monday that 2,050
jobs will be cut from news and other program areas over the next three
years, completing a job reduction plan that will see almost a fifth of
its workforce eliminated.

The cuts are part of a drive to slash spending at the public
broadcaster by 15 per cent. The network had announced earlier that
another 1,730 positions would be cut in non-program areas like human
resources and finance.

Monday's job cuts include 420 in news, 66 in sports, 735 in regional
operations, 58 in new media, 150 in drama, entertainment and children's
programming, 47 in television, and 424 in its factual and learning
departments, and 150 in radio and music.

The BBC said the total cuts amount to 19 per cent of its public service
workforce and would be accomplished through "redundancy, natural staff
turnover and outsourcing."

BBC director general Mark Thompson called it "the toughest period
any of us can remember." He said the cuts would the equivalent of
about $820 million a year by 2008 – money that would be
reinvested in programs.

"This is all money we plan to spend on programs and content, both to
improve the services we deliver to audiences right now and to build
strong BBC services in the future," Thompson said.

Unions critical

The National Union of Journalists called it "the biggest single job
cull in BBC history" and said it was "no way to prepare the BBC for
the future."

"We don't believe it is possible for 80 per cent of the staff to do 100
per cent of the work, while still maintaining the standards and quality
that the BBC is renowned for," said the union's general secretary,
Jeremy Dear.

Most of the BBC is financed by TV licences that all people with
televisions must buy. A colour TV licence costs the equivalent of about
$280 a year, while the licence fee for a black-and-white set is about
$100. No licence is required for radio.

The only part of the BBC that is funded by a government grant is the BBC
World Service.

Copyright (C) 2005 CBC. All rights reserved.
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