5 feminine BBC information presenters have been off the air, on full pay, since March 2023, when BBC Information Channel merged with BBC World Information and dozens of roles had been axed. Since then, the broadcaster has struggled to seek out new roles for the 5, whereas the axing of the presenters, all feminine and skilled, has turn into one thing of a PR catastrophe.
Now The Occasions stories that the broadcaster plans to present all 5 presenters on-screen roles once more within the coming months. The 5 ladies are Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone, Geeta Guru-Murthy, Kasia Madera and Annita McVeigh – they’re presently employed with out job titles.
The Occasions quotes one insider predicting that “the BBC would carry out a ‘reverse ferret’ to keep away from any authorized hassle with the ladies, who’ve greater than 100 years of expertise on the company between them. The paper provides that, collectively, they are going to have been paid tons of of 1000’s of kilos over the previous 9 months, at a time when the BBC is in search of to chop prices.
The insider advised the paper: “They’re all litigious and the Nationwide Union of Journalists will again them. Plus, the BBC is in need of presenters so there are not any grounds to make them redundant. And so they’re all able to doing the function. A reverse ferret is certainly the most effective plan.”
The approaching 12 months is anticipated to be costly for BBC Information, with protection required for a forthcoming Normal Election, the Olympics and ongoing protection of battle in Ukraine and the Center East. Such expenditure comes because the licence charge, the BBC’s primary supply of earnings, continues to be frozen at £159 a 12 months.
