Save BBC Birmingham: Protest Against Job Cuts
The BBC has made much of its plans to shift production out of London to cities such as Manchester, Cardiff and Glasgow. But it’s not just England’s capital that has been on the receiving end of the shake-up. Birmingham is in line to lose more than 150 jobs as its long-running factual department is shipped down the M5 to Bristol.
The cuts have caused uproar in the Midlands, with local lobbyists claiming that the damage caused “will become irreversible as the region will no longer be able to attract media companies and skilled workers.”
The major concern is that the BBC changes will take away Birmingham’s network (ie national) programming – which currently includes series such as Countryfile, Gardeners’ World, Points of View, Coast and Hairy Bikers. With the pull of national shows, Birmingham will see talent drift to Manchester, Bristol or London.
Locals are not taking the changes lying down. Under the Save BBC Birmingham banner, they are protesting against the changes in the hope senior management will reconsider. In a boost to their campaign, they got 11 Midlands MPs to sign a motion challenging the cuts.
Save BBC Birmingham is angry that the city wasn’t given time to present its case for the defence. It has also questioned whether the shift will lead to any savings – one of the BBC’s rationales for the move.
Having said this, there’s not much time to get the BBC to change its mind. Management wants to see shows relocate to Bristol next summer during the Olympics.
Is there a chance the BBC will be persuaded? Why not join the discussion on Linkedin?
