Slashdot Mirror
BBC To Make Deep Cuts In Internet Services
Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times reports that the BBC has yielded to critics of its aggressive expansion, and is planning to make sweeping cuts in spending on its Web site and other digital operations. Members of the Conservative Party, which is expected to make electoral gains at the expense of the governing Labor Party, have called for the BBC to be reined in and last year James Murdoch criticized the BBC for providing 'free news' on the internet, making it 'incredibly hard for private news organizations to ask people to pay for their news.' Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC, said 'After years of expansion of our services in the UK, we are proposing some reductions.' The BBC is proposing a 25 percent reduction in its spending on the Web, as well as the closure of several digital radio stations and a reduction in outlays on US television shows. The Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union, which represents thousands of workers at the BBC, says that instead of appeasing critics, the proposed cuts could backfire. 'The BBC will not secure the politicians' favor with these proposals and nor will the corporation appease the commercial sector, which will see what the BBC is prepared to sacrifice and will pile on the pressure for more cuts,' says Gerry Morrissey, general secretary of the union."
When Murdoch says shit, politicians jump on the shovel. Here is a recent example of how this arsehole does bussiness.
The meat from the (non-Murdoch) link...
"Last week Mr Smith [shadow communications minister] gave qualified support to the hand-out, saying the opposition acknowledged financial support for the networks was warranted during the transition to digital television. But on Tuesday, after the meeting with Mr Murdoch, Mr Abbott [opposition leader] blasted the hand-out as ''dodgy'' and an election-year bribe to free-to-air networks."
Between my OP above and this post I watched the Larry Flint doco The right to be left alone on ABC. This is the second time in the last few years I have seen the doco on state sponsred TV, it's an excellent doco that no commercial station here would play because of the way Flynt highlights their bullshit. To quote Flynt - "I watch the mainstream news to see what they leave out....The problem with the MSM is it's corporate...The models they put in front of the camera have to tow the corporate line".
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
A Freesat decoder box costs about £50. Buy one, have it shipped to Denmark, hook it up, done. It's not encrypted, you don't need a subscription, what's the problem?
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
I wouldn't worry too much, I don't think the cuts are due to have any effect on the main news site to be honest.
Most the stuff being cut is crap like this, which people don't even realise exists:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/switch/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/switch/slink/
It shouldn't harm the BBC's news operation, and despite media linking it to Murdoch and so forth I don't think it's actually anything to do with that. I think the BBC just realises there's a lot of needless sprawl, and that cash will get tight if it continues with that and it's literally just cutting away all the crap.
The news section if the BBC sites bread and butter, and it's award winning, I doubt for a minute they'd be willing to make any cuts into that, for precisely the reasons you point out- it's perhaps one of the finest elements they have in reaching out globally to show their existence and bring in further viewers.