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Fighting the BBC cuts gets parliamentary support
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be the first to commentPosted by NUJ
The campaign to save the BBC from £600 million in management-imposed cuts is moving to parliament, with a meeting at the House of Commons scheduled for Monday 22 March from 6.00pm to 8.00pm. There's also an early day motion signed by seventy MPs so far.And, of course, more than a hundred thousand people have signed petitions calling on the BBC Trust to do its job and defend public service broadcasting, rather than cave in to the schemes of corporate media giants to dismantle the BBC. The numbers are growing every day.
The National Union of Journalists has condemned BBC plans to implement the £600m cuts package at the BBC as a desperate pre-election sacrifice. NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said: “Public pressure can help persuade the BBC to put its viewers and listeners first, and I hope NUJ members will sign the petition calling on the BBC Trust to defend BBC output.
“BBC management is on a collision course - not just with us and the hundreds of BBC staff who face losing their jobs, but with licence fee payers up and down the country.
"BBC management's strategy of desperate, hopeful self-sacrifice is fundamentally flawed. Far from convincing an incoming government or commercial rivals that the BBC should now be left well alone, their self-harming approach will only encourage commercial media operations to demand more cuts. We cannot stand by and watch staff and outstanding public service content sacrificed to satisfy the demands of Rupert Murdoch and other commercial interests.
“Public outrage at the proposed cuts has been overwhelming. A 'Save BBC6 Music' Facebook group has gained almost 90,000 members in just a few days and we've seen an increase in requests for union membership from BBC staff right across the UK."
DATELINE: 13 March, 2010
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