Hard times at the Beeb

Jeff Randall, ex-BBC business editor and now vocal critic of the corporation, got in quite a huff on last night’s Newsnight about the way news and factual programming look set to suffer in the round of cuts at the corporation. Why, asked Randall, should Today and Newsnight (annual budgets of £5m and £8m respectively) suffer cuts while BBC 3 (annual budget: £93m) – whose output includes such treasures as Tittybangbang and Help Me Anthea – I’m Infested - is spared the knife. It’s a bit like Mrs Paxman demanding the Paxman family achieve cost savings by cutting back on tea bags, he argued.

The key question is whether the quality BBC news output will become materially weaker as a result of the cuts. Stephen Glover says in today’s Daily Mail that it is difficult to see how cutting 20 per cent of news jobs could not result in a decline in quality.

However, according to its less than objective rivals, there are signs that BBC news could do with cutting back on a few staff. Sky News political correspondent Glen Oglaza noted on a blog that at the launch of Chris Huhune’s leadership bid the BBC staff present at the event numbered 12, against just three at Sky and ITN respectively. ‘Nuff said,’ concluded Oglaza, clearly with no axe to grind.