Long-running interview show HARDtalk has been axed by the BBC after nearly 30 years, as part of news cuts that will see 155 jobs being lost.
Bosses at the corporation today revealed that its news division will have four per cent of its budget cut as part of a savings drive.
This will see UK radio audiences, including those on Radio 2 and Radio 5 Live, now getting overnight news bulletins from the BBC World Service.
The cuts also mean radio station Asian Network will lose its ‘bespoke’ news service.
The presenter of HARDTalk Stephen Sackur branded the decision to axe the show ‘depressing news for the BBC’.
HARDtalk host Stephen Sackur today reacted to news the programme had been cancelled
Mr Sackur today described the news as a ‘blow’ and hit out at BBC director general Tim Davie
The National Union of Journalists branded the cuts as a ‘damaging assault on journalism and news’.
News bosses are planning to close 185 roles and open 55 new ones, which is a net reduction of 130 posts.
There are expected to be a further 50 posts going in the BBC’s separate media operations division, of which 25 are linked to the news cuts. This includes people like camera operators.
The job losses are part of an expected broader 500 roles going across the BBC, announced earlier this year.
In a letter to staff, chief executive of BBC News and Current Affairs, Deborah Turness, said it was a ‘tough day’ and there had been ‘difficult decisions’, adding it had to ‘operate within our budgets’.
She said the cuts would ‘help meet the BBC’s savings and reinvestment challenge.’
Ms Turness revealed proposals to deliver a saving of £24 million in the news division adding this was ‘4% of our current budget’.
She added that she was ‘sorry to say that post closures are unavoidable.’
The National Union of Journalists said it was concerned that ‘important domestic stories’ will be lost in the overnight radio news bulletins.
It added the UK-based bulletins had been part of BBC radio for over 40 years and were ‘now being scrapped’ for a ‘minimal saving’.
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: ‘These latest cuts represent a damaging assault on journalism and news at a time when the UK needs greater plurality and diversity of news and trust in journalism is under attack at home and abroad.
‘Some of these decisions represent comparatively modest savings yet will disproportionately undermine the breadth and range of news content the BBC currently provides.’
HARDTalk, which launched in 1997, is presented by Stephen Sackur. It carries out in-depth interviews with leading international figures.
The show, which has previously interviewed Benazir Bhutto, Robert Mugabe, Noam Chomsky and Maya Angelou, will end in five months time. It is expected to be replaced with live news or pre-recorded content.
Responding to the news, HARDTalk host Stephen Sackur posted a message on X, formerly known as Twitter.
He said: ‘Today BBC News has announced plans to close BBC HARDTalk after 3 decades holding the world’s politicians and powerbrokers to account.
‘This is sad news for me personally, but much more important, I think it’s depressing news for the BBC and all who believe in the importance of independent, rigorous deeply researched journalism.’
Mr Sackur reacted to the news in a long thread posted on X
Sackur added: ‘My commitment to rigorous exploration of world affairs won’t change. I hope the BBC’s doesn’t either.’
He took a veiled swipe at director-general Tim Davie, pointing out the show was being ‘disbanded’ as the BBC boss trying to convince Government to take back funding of the BBC World Service.
The cuts come after the BBC set out a £500 million annual ‘savings and reinvestment plan’ in May 2022.
In March the BBC director-general Tim Davie then announced the requirement to find a further £200 million in savings.
Ms Turness told staff: ‘We are doing everything we can to avoid compulsory redundancies.’
In her message she also talked about plans to ‘waste less resource’ and would be ‘tougher on deciding what we do not cover and saying no to lower impact content’. This included relying less on ‘resource intensive TV packages’.
The message said: ‘We will close the bespoke Asian Network News service and the station will instead take Newsbeat bulletins and commission a new locally made Current Affairs show.
‘We will close HARDTalk as we focus on continuous live and breaking output on our News Channel, and do more to use and promote high impact interviews and important conversations that are happening every day across our platforms.’
The BBC will also ‘synchronise’ the production of Radio 5 Live and Radio 2 news bulletins.
It is also increasing the number of ‘digital roles’ outside the UK to ‘deliver a better round the clock service’.