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'Newsnight's off' as Paxman refuses to cross picket lines
Jason Deans, broadcasting editor
Thursday May 19, 2005
Newsnight is set to be blacked out because of Monday's BBC strike, with Jeremy Paxman refusing to cross picket lines and management resigned to losing their flagship BBC2 current affairs programme on the day.
Paxman, who was due to present Monday night's edition of Newsnight, is understood to have told BBC news executives he was not willing to cross the picket lines that will be set up by broadcasting unions outside Television Centre in west London.
But it would not matter even if Paxman was willing to work, because there will not be enough Newsnight production staff around to make the show anyway, according to a senior BBC insider.
"There won't be a Newsnight. The reality is the strike is very strong among video editors and film crews. There's no way that we can put a show out. The priority is to keep the bulletins going," the source said.
All eyes on Monday will be on who will cross the picket lines to keep BBC news and current affairs going - news-presenter-turned-royal-reporter Nicholas Witchell was famously branded a scab after agreeing to read the 6 O'Clock News on the day of the last high-profile strike in April 1989.
At the time he explained that he agreed with the pay claim but said he did not agree with the tactic of strike action.
Dermot Murnaghan and Natasha Kaplinksy are due to present breakfast on Monday, with George Alagiah and Sian Williams to host the 6 O'Clock News and Fiona Bruce pencilled in for the 10pm bulletin.
Jeremy Dear, the general secretary of the NUJ, said the union was certain there would be no edition of Newsnight on Monday because BBC management had been telling journalists who were willing to work on the programme that they would be reassigned to other shows.
"We know for a fact that Newsnight is off. They have made a decision that they can't get it out. They haven't got presenters, journalists, researchers or technical staff," he said.
"What we are expecting is very serious disruption to news programmes. They will of course use managers to get a skeleton service out but it will be a shadow of what it normally is."
Mr Dear predicted that the regular BBC1 news bulletins, including the 10 O'Clock News, were likely to be shorter than normal and rely more heavily on pre-recorded material rather than live reports.
severe disruption on radio, internet and News 24 too
The NUJ leader said the feedback from union members also suggested there would be disruption to radio news, News 24, the BBC News website, the World Service, regional TV and radio.
There is only understood to be one presenter willing to work on News 24 on Monday and Mr Dear predicted that in the regions, where support for the strike is particularly strong, the BBC's TV and radio news output would be "decimated".
The NUJ expects the BBC to deploy what staff are available on the day to provide a core news service for on-the-hour radio and TV bulletins.
But live news programmes, and particularly those that pride themselves on their original, in-depth journalism, such as Newsnight and Radio 4's Today, will be particularly vulnerable to the strike.
"They will pull as many people together as possible to provide a core news service. There will be things that are pre-recorded," Mr Dear said.
"I would imagine that they will put together some sort of show [for the main BBC1 news bulletins]. But it will not be recognisable as the TV news.
"Some [bulletins] will be shorter, there will be pre-recorded material and they will repeat material throughout the day. And there will be stories they don't have that they normally would have."
Mr Dear said that the strike, called to protest against plans by the director general, Mark Thompson, to axe 4,000 BBC jobs, had also boosted NUJ membership, with 500 new applications in the past month.
Source: Media Guardian
Jason Deans, broadcasting editor
Thursday May 19, 2005
Newsnight is set to be blacked out because of Monday's BBC strike, with Jeremy Paxman refusing to cross picket lines and management resigned to losing their flagship BBC2 current affairs programme on the day.
Paxman, who was due to present Monday night's edition of Newsnight, is understood to have told BBC news executives he was not willing to cross the picket lines that will be set up by broadcasting unions outside Television Centre in west London.
But it would not matter even if Paxman was willing to work, because there will not be enough Newsnight production staff around to make the show anyway, according to a senior BBC insider.
"There won't be a Newsnight. The reality is the strike is very strong among video editors and film crews. There's no way that we can put a show out. The priority is to keep the bulletins going," the source said.
All eyes on Monday will be on who will cross the picket lines to keep BBC news and current affairs going - news-presenter-turned-royal-reporter Nicholas Witchell was famously branded a scab after agreeing to read the 6 O'Clock News on the day of the last high-profile strike in April 1989.
At the time he explained that he agreed with the pay claim but said he did not agree with the tactic of strike action.
Dermot Murnaghan and Natasha Kaplinksy are due to present breakfast on Monday, with George Alagiah and Sian Williams to host the 6 O'Clock News and Fiona Bruce pencilled in for the 10pm bulletin.
Jeremy Dear, the general secretary of the NUJ, said the union was certain there would be no edition of Newsnight on Monday because BBC management had been telling journalists who were willing to work on the programme that they would be reassigned to other shows.
"We know for a fact that Newsnight is off. They have made a decision that they can't get it out. They haven't got presenters, journalists, researchers or technical staff," he said.
"What we are expecting is very serious disruption to news programmes. They will of course use managers to get a skeleton service out but it will be a shadow of what it normally is."
Mr Dear predicted that the regular BBC1 news bulletins, including the 10 O'Clock News, were likely to be shorter than normal and rely more heavily on pre-recorded material rather than live reports.
severe disruption on radio, internet and News 24 too
The NUJ leader said the feedback from union members also suggested there would be disruption to radio news, News 24, the BBC News website, the World Service, regional TV and radio.
There is only understood to be one presenter willing to work on News 24 on Monday and Mr Dear predicted that in the regions, where support for the strike is particularly strong, the BBC's TV and radio news output would be "decimated".
The NUJ expects the BBC to deploy what staff are available on the day to provide a core news service for on-the-hour radio and TV bulletins.
But live news programmes, and particularly those that pride themselves on their original, in-depth journalism, such as Newsnight and Radio 4's Today, will be particularly vulnerable to the strike.
"They will pull as many people together as possible to provide a core news service. There will be things that are pre-recorded," Mr Dear said.
"I would imagine that they will put together some sort of show [for the main BBC1 news bulletins]. But it will not be recognisable as the TV news.
"Some [bulletins] will be shorter, there will be pre-recorded material and they will repeat material throughout the day. And there will be stories they don't have that they normally would have."
Mr Dear said that the strike, called to protest against plans by the director general, Mark Thompson, to axe 4,000 BBC jobs, had also boosted NUJ membership, with 500 new applications in the past month.
Source: Media Guardian
