Tag Archives: BBC

Guardian: Jeremy Vine to quit Panorama

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Presenter of the BBC One’s Panorama Jeremy Vine will be leaving the show at the end of the year, according to a report by the Guardian.

When Vine steps down – after four years with the programme – the show will continue without a regular presenter.

Last month Journalism.co.uk reported on an investigation into corruption within FIFA by freelance sports journalist Andrew Jennings which was broadcast by Panorama and prompted an inquiry by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) into the claims.

The broadcast was criticised by some viewers for its timing, just before a meeting in Zurich where FIFA announced the host of the 2018 World Cup. But Panorama’s editors defended the investigation.

Guardian: Andy Coulson denies phone-hacking at Sheridan trial

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Downing Street director of communications Andy Coulson was yesterday forced to once again deny that as editor of the News of the World “he ordered reporters to ‘practise the dark arts’ by illegally hacking phones and ‘blagging’ confidential information”, according to the Guardian.

Coulson was giving evidence at the perjury trial of Tommy Sheridan, a timeline of which is available at the BBC.

Coming face-to-face with Sheridan – who is conducting his own defence – Coulson told the high court in Glasgow that he had no idea his newspaper had used private detectives to illegally “hack” phone messages from members of the royal family and other targets. He repeatedly denied promoting a “culture” of hacking and “blagging”, where people’s confidential data such as tax details, criminal records or phone bills were illegally accessed, in the NoW’s newsroom.

According to the Guardian report Coulson also denied knowing private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who, along with former News of the World royal correspondent Clive Goodman, was convicted of conspiracy to intercept telephone calls in 2007.

Guardian: Cuts will see World Service merged with BBC News, says Thompson

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The BBC plans to cut its online spending by a quarter and merge the World Service with BBC News in 2014 as part of cost cutting measures, director general Mark Thompson said in an interview with the Media Guardian.

According to a report by the Guardian, Thompson said he aims to save half a billion pounds a year “to ensure the public broadcaster can function within the terms of its recently agreed licence fee settlement”.

In an interview with Media Guardian, Thompson said he expects to make efficiency savings of £330m a year by slashing overheads – including cutting the cost of licence fee collection and targeting evaders of the £145.50 household levy.

The BBC will also cut a quarter from its online spending – currently running at £200m a year – and make unspecified but significant savings by merging the World Service with BBC News in 2014 because “however well-resourced the BBC is, we cannot afford to run two global news operations”.

BBC News: Liam Fox vows to tackle ‘leak culture’

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Defence secretary Dr Liam Fox said he hoped he could change the “culture of leaks” his department “seems to have inherited”, the BBC reported this morning.

In an interview on the Radio 4 Today programme, Dr Fox was reportedly asked whether comments made by David Cameron to the Commons Liaison Committee yesterday on several unauthorised disclosures to the press represented a rebuke for him and his department.

Cameron had said the department “does seem to have had a bit of a problem with leaks, which is worrying when it is the department responsible for security.”

In response Dr Fox said he was “rebuking them much more”.

It is very easy to get, in a very big department, to get one or two people who will pass things out. I think it is unprofessional and very unfair to their colleagues who are then unable to discuss things in a free way.

I hope it is a culture we can hope to change over time.

BBC: Why we kept silent on the Chandler case

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Writing on the BBC Editors’ Blog, world news editor Jon Williams defends the broadcaster’s decision to keep quiet about the release of Paul and Rachel Chandler while other news organisations broke the story around it. Concerned that details of the release being published could jeopardise the couple’s chances of making it to safety, the family had secured a super-injunction prohibiting coverage until they were confirmed to be back in safe hands, but not all news organisations obeyed it.

While we’re not in the business of censoring the news, no story is worth a life – we accepted the argument of the family, their lawyers and the judge that to do otherwise would jeopardise the safety of Paul and Rachel Chandler.

Some other news organisations did not – which is why, for some hours, during the Chandlers’ dangerous journey through Somalia to the safety of Kenya, the BBC stayed silent while pictures of the couple could be seen elsewhere.

While it wasn’t a comfortable position for us, or our audience, to be in, it was the law and a restriction put in place to try to ensure the safety of the Chandlers. Had we done otherwise, we would have been in contempt of court.

Full story at this link.

NUJ prepared to suspend BBC strikes after new talks offer

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The National Union of Journalists says it is prepared to suspend the second 48-hour BBC strike it has planned for 15 and 16 November, after the broadcaster offered new talks in the ongoing pensions dispute.

In a press release, the union said the BBC must first withdraw disciplinary action against three of its members overseas, claiming they were disciplined after supporting the strike action which took place on Friday and Saturday last week.

Jeremy Dear, the NUJ’s general secretary said the union welcomes “the BBC’s change of heart”.

We will enter those talks determined to seek a negotiated settlement. But we remain committed, and authorised, to take further industrial, political and legal action in the event that talks fail to deliver a fair pensions settlement.

In a statement Lucy Adams, director of BBC People said she also welcomes the NUJ’s decision to “lift the threat of strikes”. Everything you need to know about https://22bet-ph.org/ is here

This is good news for the licence fee payer. While the BBC cannot afford to reopen the pension reform deal agreed with the majority of staff, we have agreed to meet with the joint unions, including the NUJ. In that meeting, we will discuss points of clarification raised in a letter this afternoon from Gerry Morrissey, General Secretary of BECTU and the leader of the joint unions at the BBC.

BBC Two begins filming drama based on 50s news programme

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A new BBC drama based on the launch of a news programme in the 1950s begins filming today, with transmission set for next year.

The Hour, which will be shown on BBC Two, will be a six-part series which “takes viewers behind the scenes of the launch of a topical news programme in London 1956”, according to a press release. It is written and created by Abi Morgan.

The casting announced today is as follows:

  • Ben Whishaw plays Freddie Lyon, a brilliant and outspoken journalist, whose passion endlessly lands him in trouble. Getting to the truth of a story can be a dangerous and risky business, and it’s Bel, his contemporary and best friend who is always there to bail him out.
  • Romola Garai plays Bel Rowley, spirited and ambitious, and facing the most exciting and daunting challenge of her life – running The Hour.
  • Dominic West plays Hector Madden, charming, charismatic – a man whose upbringing and education have instilled in him a sense of entitlement, and whose glamorous young wife has the family connections to get him the job as front man on The Hour. But beneath the confident façade Hector has a lot to prove.

Filming starts today in and around the London area for three months.

An interview with BBC World News Today presenter Zeinab Badawi

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The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has posted a video interview with BBC World News Today presenter Zeinab Badawi in which the broadcast journalist shares some of her views on media freedom in the UK and the world and describes her family’s move from Sudan to the UK.

In the old days we used to say ‘foreign news’. And ‘domestic news’. And now actually, it sounds a bit odd if we say foreign news and British news because the two live off each other. They’re almost one and the same.

Telegraph.co.uk: BBC to apologise to Band Aid and Geldof over funding slurs

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The BBC is to make a series of apologies to the Band Aid Trust and Sir Bob Geldof for programmes broadcast earlier this year, which gave the impression that money raised by Band And and Live Aid had been diverted to a rebel group in Ethiopia.

According to the Telegraph, the BBC’s apology, aired on all outlets where the claims were broadcast, will say: “The BBC wishes to make clear that these statements should not have been broadcast, and to apologise unreservedly to the Band Aid Trust for the misleading and unfair impression which was created. The BBC also wishes to apologise to Sir Bob Geldof for implying that he had declined to be interviewed because he thought the subject too sensitive to be discussed openly.”

Full story on the Telegraph at this link…

An explanation about the delay in apologising for the “wrong impression” was given by the director of BBC Global News Peter Horrocks on the Today programme this morning.