BBC Journalists Overwhelmingly Express No Confidence In Senior Leadership

Max Goldbart
·2 min read

BBC journalists have overwhelmingly expressed no confidence in their senior leadership team.

Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) who work at the corporation voted 93% ‘no confidence’ at a meeting last month, according to the union, which unveiled the results this afternoon.

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These journalists work in local news across TV, online and radio and have been hit by budget cuts recently, with a dispute ongoing between the union and the BBC over changes to jobs and local radio programs, some of which are merging.

Around 1,000 BBC local journalists staged a strike in March – their biggest in 13 years – and May, and they are due to strike again on Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 June. They also threatened to strike during the coverage of King Charles III’s Coronation and Eurovision, although this never took place.

“Members have shared their disappointment over the treatment of colleagues who have had to re-apply for their jobs,” said NUJ National Organiser Paul Siegert.

“Results of the vote indicate the strength of feeling among journalists, alongside frustrations about the BBC’s handling of the dispute. Members want to avoid strike action and remain doing the jobs they love. It’s for this reason, the NUJ is urging the BBC to reconsider its plans that will leave a lasting impact on local radio.”

The strikes have arrived with the BBC News division one of the hardest hit by the corporation’s need to make deep financial cuts.

Journalists have also been unhappy with the handling of various recent scandals including those involving Gary Lineker and former Chair Richard Sharp. In February, an NUJ survey about the latter saw more than 1,000 union members urge the latter to resign, which took place a few months later.

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