Newsnight, the BBC‘s flagship daily current affairs show, is to be shortened to 30 minutes and relaunched as a forum for interviews and debate.
BBC News has today briefed staff about a £7.5M ($9.5M) savings plan, with BBC2’s Newsnight bearing the brunt of the cuts.
Reporter roles will be closed on the show, which has built a reputation for original investigative journalism during its 43 years on air.
Sources said Newsnight was being “gutted.” The BBC argued that savings will be reinvested in a “BBC News Investigations Unit” that will serve all of the corporation’s news output.
BBC News CEO Deborah Turness said: “Audiences have told us how much they value Newsnight as an iconic BBC debate and discussion programme, and we’ve listened to what they’ve said – we’ve made the decision to keep the programme on air five days a week, despite the financial challenges we face.
“Newsnight has also been a source of great investigative reporting and films but we know that people are consuming the news in different ways, and it can no longer make sense to keep a bespoke reporting team for a single television programme. We will offer more to audiences by investing to ensure the best investigative journalism and reporting is produced – and consumed – across the whole of BBC News.”
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Source: DLine
