Cuts & Privatization at BBC

[snot]

Pls excuse if this is off-topic, but I know folks here are very concerned about media issues. BBC employees are on strike--guess I'm the last to know. Please go to their site and express your support for the strike! I don't know what parts of the bbc corp. are to be privatized, but I object to anything that could diminish their ability to continue to gather news or their independence.

Edited to add: And is it a coincidence that this comes at the same time we learn that the board of our own, U.S. public radio has decided the network should play more music???

Here's the story :

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4... :

Unions announce BBC strike dates

Members of three unions at BBC voted for strike action
BBC staff are to strike for 24 hours on 23 May and 48 hours on 31 May and 1 June in a row over job cuts.
Unions say a fourth stoppage will also be announced to create the "greatest amount of disruption" possible.

BBC employees are protesting at plans to cut 3,780 jobs and privatise parts of the corporation.

The unions said the cuts were the most damaging in BBC history. The corporation said it regretted the decision to take industrial action.

We will, of course, do everything we can to bring the best possible service to viewers and listeners during any industrial action
BBC response to strike action

"By threatening the BBC's output, the unions put at risk the BBC's relationship with the public which is not in anyone's interest," it said.

"Industrial action will not remove the need for further consultation or the need for the BBC to implement changes which will enable us to put more money into improved programmes and services."

The BBC has yet to finalise TV and radio schedules for the strike-affected days, but its coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show may be affected as the event runs from 23 to 28 May.

Unions want to disrupt as many programmes as possible.

All national and regional news programmes, including Newsnight on BBC Two and BBC News 24 output, could also face disruption.

Radio and online output may be similarly affected.

Three unions - Amicus, the National Union of Journalists and Bectu - were involved in the decision.

Gerry Morrissey, assistant general secretary of broadcasting and technicians union Bectu, said: "We will aim to cause the greatest amount of disruption possible to highlight our anger at the scale of job cuts and our concern about the effect these will have on the future of the BBC.

Staff are keen to take part in action to leave director general Mark Thompson in no doubt that he is out of touch
Gerry Morrissey, Bectu

"We expect overwhelming support for the strikes and we hope the BBC will return to the negotiating table to discuss these unacceptable job cuts with us."

[Peace Patriot]

1. Thanks for this post! Support the BBC workers! See below!

The BBC became many Americans' news service of choice when the "Iron Curtain" went up in the U.S. blocking any real news about the Bush Cartel, its damnable war, its massive thievery and its many evil deeds. It is the ONLY major British/American news organization that tried to expose the cooking of intelligence on Iraq WMDs, and Bush's lapdog Tony Blair went after it with all teeth, as only a vicious little lapdog can do--seeking to destroy BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan's career, attacking the BBC governors and its charter (its independence), and very likely ordering the assassination of British weapons inspector David Kelly (who was whistle-blowing to the BBC on the cooking of the intelligence).

It was only a matter of time before the Mideast War Cartel--fronted by Bush and Blair--made their move to shut down this amazing worldwide public news service.

The BBC has never been more popular--due to its excellence as a news organization, and other public services. The other day I switched on my satellite radio going to work, and was treated to an on-air reading of one of my favorite author's best books--Patrick O'Brian's "The Surgeon's Mate." If you're not familiar with O'Brian's work, you are missing out on the William Shakespeare of this age. Imagine switching on the radio at random in the U.S., and getting anything so wonderful to listen to! The BBC has also given us items like "Monty Python's Flying Circus," "Prime Suspect," "Fawlty Towers" and "Upstairs/Downstairs". Its radio programming routinely includes fascinating in-depth interviews of ordinary people all around the globe. Its reporters are often the first ones--and often the only ones--on the spot for breaking news stories in every obscure corner of the planet. The BBC language training is also awesome.

The very popularity of the BBC has made it a prime target for "privatization." Predatory capitalists are like sharks smelling blood when it comes to looting or corrupting anything successful that the public has created for itself. Look at what corporate sharks have done to NPR and PBS here--and what Enron did to California's budget surplus!--and what Halliburton & buds have done to Clinton's budget surplus, and to our military! --and what Bush financial sharks intend to do to Social Security. Anything we hold in common that has worked out well is being plundered.

But the BBC's independence as a news organization is the main thing the bad guys want to kill. That is what this firing of more than 4,000 people and "privatization" is all about. The firings are hitting the news and public opinion programs the hardest.

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http://media.guardian.co.uk/bbc/story/0,7521,1442825,00.html

"'Worst day in history of BBC'

"Julia Day and Jason Deans
"Monday March 21, 2005 - The Guardian

"Brutal cuts involving the loss of 2,050 jobs - more than 400 in the newsroom - were unveiled at the BBC today, with unions branding the day the 'worst in the history' of the corporation.

"The extent of BBC director general Mark Thompson's job cuts were unveiled today with severe cuts in TV and radio news and current affairs.

"The unions immediately condemned the cuts describing today as "the worst day in the history of the BBC".

"In total, up to 6,000 staff will go as part of the cost-cutting, but Mr Thompson today revealed detailed plans for the news and nations and regions division, which will bear the brunt of cuts.

"As many as 100 jobs are to go in newsgathering, with another 86 in TV News. Political programmes are to lose 10 staff while radio current affairs, which is "run on a shoestring" is to lose 16 posts - 18% of its complement of staff.

"Radio News is losing as many as 75 journalists, reducing the capacity of those providing bulletins and rolling news to radio 5 and the other networks by 14%.

"Journalists and admin staff in BBC News and the nations and regions divisions will bear the brunt of the cost cutting drive among programme-making and broadcasting departments, with more than 1,100 posts to be axed in the two divisions.

"Unions have already condemned the cuts as brutal and unnecessary, accusing Mr Thompson of 'ripping the heart out of BBC programme-making'...." (more)

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http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1490109,00.html

"Strike brings BBC to standstill

"Owen Gibson, media correspondent
"Monday May 23, 2005 - The Guardian

A strike today by up to 11,000 BBC journalists, producers and technicians over a move to cut 4,000 jobs will drastically alter radio and TV schedules.... (more)

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http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1485209,00.html

"Unions: BBC governors 'hiding from the truth'

"Julia Day
"Monday May 16, 2005 - The Guardian

"BBC unions have accused the governors of 'wilfully ignoring' staff after they refused to meet them to discuss planned cuts at the corporation....

"Mr Barber (of the TUC)(said) the cutbacks ...would have a negative impact on quality.

"'Trade unionists know the value of an independent, impartial and authoritative news service alongside top quality entertainment. That is why we want to see the BBC strengthened in the process of charter renewal.' ...." (more)

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SUPPORT THE STRIKING BBC WORKERS! WRITE TO THE BBC!

News programming

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ifs/hi/feedback/default.stm

General

http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/contactus/

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A note on David Kelly: His untimely death was whitewashed by the Blair government as a suicide. It very likely was not. It's my suspicion that Kelly was murdered, and that the reason was more than just whistleblowing on the cooking of intelligence. All he managed to say before he died was that they had "sexed up" the intelligence--manipulated the facts to make the worst case against Iraq--an embarrassing but not terribly surprising revelation. My guess is that he had gotten on to a plot to plant WMDs in Iraq (and possibly prevented it). It's just a hunch. But it sure feels right. (He was the Brits' chief weapons inspector in Iraq, and wrote an email just before he died--to Judith Miller, of all people--about the "dark actors playing games" on the WMD controversy. The circumstances of his "suicide," at the height of this controversy, are extremely suspicious. This whole event--his revelations to BBC reporter Gilligan, his "suicide," and its whitewash--are what precipitated this all-out assault on the BBC's news service and independence.)

[Peace Patriot]

2. Relevance to election fraud...

Both the British and American citizenries were forced into war against their will. Nearly 60% of Americans opposed the Iraq invasion, with the same amount still opposing the war today. It's something like 80% on England.

In the U.S., we've had this on-going war shoved down our throats by election fraud. In England, they are stuck with a Clinton-type centrist (Blair) as head of the Labour government, who, unlike Clinton, is a hypocritical born-again Christian and a warmonger (participated in the slaughter of over 100,000 innocent Iraqis). And they can't seem to get rid of him.

His party just lost a hundred seats in Parliament in the recent election--with huge defections to the Liberal party, mostly a war protest--a significant blow to the Blair government, and he is on the wane, but still in power. Although the Brits have a far better political culture and election system than we do, like us their choices have been extremely limited. If you are pro-worker and pro-the common people (and also, pro-EU), Labour is, on the whole, your only viable choice, even though this Labour government has pushed privatization and cutbacks in public services, adores predatory capitalism (American style), and has led England into an unjust war.

There have been enormous demonstrations against the war in England--including a notable one when Bush visited (people basically imprisoned him in the Queen's castle--he couldn't go anywhere without tens of thousands of people protesting his visit). I've been waiting for Blair to fall because of this, but instead he's just kind of fading away--no precipitous ousting. If the Brits had a good alternative, he would be gone.

Upshot: England has a somewhat dysfunctional political system, as compared to ours, which has suffered a fascist coup at the top--although we have a lively progressive movement at the grass roots level--the movement that elected John Kerry.

[JDPriestly]

4. Thanks.

David Kelly. David Kelly. I will try to remember his name now. What a hero. A saint of our times. May he rest in peace.

[Coexist]

3. privatization... oh no....