SHOCKED BBC Africa staff were left stunned after their boss told them their programmes would be axed Zoom meeting, and then refused to take questions.
The row came after the corporation backtracked over plans to axe UK black local radio shows following a campaign by this newspaper.
A BBC Africa staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Voice that the Director of BBC World Service, Liliane Landor, gave a presentation to African staff where many learnt that their programmes would be axed for the first time, and then said she would not take any questions.
The source said: “In terms of consultation, they really didn’t consult us on anything at all. They just called for a Zoom meeting and we just find out on the day.
“We expected that there will be restructuring but we didn’t know the scale of the closures. It really took us as a surprise.
“The Africa teams, they didn’t even know during the presentation when they were doing the slides [what was coming]. That’s when they saw that their programmes were actually closing. So it was quite a shock to them.
“People also complained about the lack of decency, the way the announcement was made.
“[Landor said] I won’t be able to answer any questions. She just listed all programmes that will be closed, and she will not be taking any questions after that.”
The BBC Press Office claim Landor did answer questions at “numerous staff engagement sessions”, including at regional events, and they also have regular HR drop-in sessions plus a “support package”.
Some cuts have already been made while worried journalists and production workers await news of redeployments, expected this month.
A source said that experienced Africa staff may be offered “work experience” attachments within mainstream BBC to “see if they fit in.” The BBC Press Office disputes the experience of that BBC source.
The Beeb are slashing several services across BBC World with sources saying over 600 jobs would be lost, almost twice the official figure given by the BBC, which is 382.
There are suggestions that over 200 jobs will be lost across Africa, including regular freelancers, when their contracts run out in April, a figure the BBC dispute, who says the total international number of net roles closing across all of the World Service is 156 – and this is not just Africa.
The BBC Africa children’s programme is also being closed down, along with a programme aimed at celebrating empowered women in the continent.
Some African countries, like Kenya and South Africa, will get one reporter and one camera operator, filing stories to London or Salford in the UK.
The cuts involve scrapping of BBC Somali TV, which shut down in January. The TV part of BBC Afrique is also facing the chop. They will continue in radio and digital formats.
In a statement, the BBC said it was “totally committed” to bringing “independent journalism” to Africa, but significantly did not pledge a commitment to BBC Africa.
The cuts are believed to save the BBC £28.5 million, about 0.005 per cent of the corporations’ total £5.3 billion annual income. Last year the former culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, froze the licence fee for two years which meant a real-terms budget cut.
The BBC source said that the “rightwing government are moving away from engagement with the continent [of Africa].”
Some of the axed BBC Africa programmes will be moving to digital platforms. The BBC claim they are not cutting back services but modernising as they switch from traditional linear broadcasting on TV and radio.
However, BBC Somali won’t be going digital because corporation executives ruled that internet coverage in Somalia is not good enough to make it worth their while, and where there is a signal people increasingly get their news from social media like TikTok.
BBC World TV channel is also being ‘merged’ with the UK-based News Channel. However, some question whether this is really a merger, or merely a cover story for scrapping the BBC World channel.
It is understood that some within the BBC are prepared to lose a share of the audience over the next five to ten years on the gamble that their digital strategy means numbers will pick up in the longer term.
BBC News online reported that radio broadcasts in 10 languages will cease, including Arabic, Persian, Chinese and Bengali, but the BBC told The Voice: “We are not closing any of our language services.”
In 2020, BBC Africa staff accused management of institutional racism including being denied career development opportunities, being bullied, and then silenced by an ineffective complaints procedure.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC is totally committed to bringing impartial, independent journalism to people across Africa.
“Audience needs and habits are changing and we know there is huge potential for digital growth across the continent and building deeper engagement with our journalism.
“The BBC is not closing any language services and will continue to serve audiences in 11 African languages on a variety of multimedia platforms, and some radio and TV broadcasts where they serve large audiences.
“It’s not easy changing our output or stopping programming, but we are in tough financial circumstances and have had to make difficult decisions.”
The BBC later pointed out that they first announced our digital first plans last September and have been consulting on them since then with many meetings.
Paul Siegert, the NUJ’s national broadcasting organiser, said: “The cuts to BBC Africa Service are due to the BBC reducing spending on the World Service by £30m and will lead to a total of around 400 posts being cut, some in BBC Africa.
“These cuts are a direct result of the government’s decision to freeze the licence fee for two years.
“The NUJ believes the World Service should be funded directly by the Foreign Office as it was before 2011, and we will continue to campaign for that.
“There are direct benefits for the government through soft power and the influence it gets around the globe via the World Service.”
We will continue to represent our members who work for BBC Africa and face losing their jobs and to ensure they are redeployed elsewhere in the BBC.”
UPDATE – 16th February 2023
Liliane Landor, Senior Controller of BBC News International Services and Director of BBC World Service, responds:
Your article contains some damaging and misleading assertions. Most notably ‘shocked BBC Africa staff were left stunned after their boss told them they were getting the sack in a Zoom meeting, and then refused to take questions.’ As the person named in your article, I can tell you that this is untrue.
The restructure of the World Service has been prompted by the extreme challenges required by the freezing of the licence fee. We have made every effort to protect language services from closure and have put measures in place to manage the uncertainty staff feel during what has been a volatile and difficult period.
I take the welfare of my staff extremely seriously and the proposed changes were carefully considered and appropriately communicated with staff. We have stringent HR measures in place and follow proper procedures regarding closure of roles, including maximising redeployment opportunities.
I set out details of the proposed restructure to all staff in a general call in September and then followed this up with regional team calls. In these sessions my team and I answered as many questions as possible, openly and honestly. Sessions were recorded and made available internally for those who missed them.
We set up regular HR drop in sessions and a dedicated email inbox for further questions, comments and feedback. Since then we have also held numerous staff engagement sessions for colleagues to share their views and suggestions on the proposed plans as well as introducing a support package to help staff navigate this uncertain period.
The only occasion where no questions were taken was during a briefing call with team leaders to ensure they were across the detail ahead of the wider all staff call, which did allow for questions. We wanted leaders to be briefed on the overall picture in advance, knowing that all questions would be answered at the all staff call.
I can assure you that we have taken questions in all our staff meetings and continue to do so.
Times of change are never easy and we are grateful to our colleagues for their patience and input as we work towards a creative, nimble and digital first World Service that will better serve our audience needs.
Read more >
Comments Form
4 Comments
The most equal ethnic groups at the BBC are Caucasian Jewish men and women and their historical and contemporary concerns; followed by the legion of LGBTQIAP+ identifying men and women, followed by middle-class feminists.
The refusal to even respond to questions from the African-heritage people; who were sacked by Zoom, displays clearly the contempt the BBC holds for its African-heritage staff.
Greatly regret end of Focus on Africa, which I get from the Maseru, Lesotho FM relay station. Listen to it at supper except when it is replaced by sports at weekends. Last programme revealed what I had long suspected, that the ‘Resident Presidents’ is written by Robin White. Very shortsighted of U.K. Government to close down one of the most valuable purveyors of British excellence, particularly since the British Council seems to have also disappeared in many places. France does better. Congratulations to all of you for the many years of disseminating African news in an interesting and understanding way, even when the news was not good. I hope you will manage to keep Redi Tlhabi, and her colleagues will realise her name is not ‘Reedy’ but ‘Ready’ in the nearest English word pronunciations.
You guys have made me a sad and lonely person. BBC focus on Africa was my only companion and I became addicted to it. Why focus on Africa? considering the fact that Africa is even populated more than Europe. Anyways bye bye to the BBC because focus on Africa was the only reason I used to listened to the BBC.
Nothing to do with licence fees and all to do with legal fees to cover up the house of paedophilia.