Inside BBC exodus as Newsnight cuts loom and head of World Service quits

Fears are rising at the BBC that an exodus of senior journalists is under way after the head of the World Service quit and as cuts to Newsnight loom large.

The director of the BBC World Service, Liliane Landor, quit with a warning that budget cuts are undermining its global role just days after Mark Urban said he was leaving the broadcaster after 34 years.

Ms Landor will leave in the summer, while Mr Urban’s diplomatic editor role will disappear when Newsnight adopts a new debate-led format next month in a revamp which will see 34 jobs go.

Insiders said Newsnight’s “gutting” was ill-timed with Scoop, the film dramatising the story behind the show’s exclusive interview with Prince Andrew, currently topping Netflix’s viewing charts.

One news figure said: “There are fears that the Newsnight revamp is just a staging post until it is quietly dropped altogether.”

“The timing is poor when Scoop is showing people what the programme used to be about. People are asking who will go from News next after Mark and Liliane?”

Newsnight is expected to lose most of its specialist editors with the exception of the likes of political editor Nick Watt, who will continue to lead its general election coverage, i understands.

Kirsty Wark is stepping back after the election with Victoria Derbyshire continuing as lead presenter.

A “significant number” of Newsnight journalists will remain, with others absorbed elsewhere within the corporation, sources said.

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Economics editor Ben Chu is set to join the BBC’s expanding Verify unit. Deputy editor Rosie Seed will take the same role at Radio 4’s The World at One and PM programmes.

A new Newsnight executive editor, Jonathan Aspinwall, who ran the BBC’s News podcasts, has been tasked with ensuring the flagship show continues to attract frontline politicians and makes waves in its reduced 30-minute format.

John McAndrew, director of BBC News Programmes, said Mr Aspinwall’s “sharp news sense and experience of developing new formats will ensure that Newsnight remains the destination for intelligent debate, analysis and forensic interviews”.

Described as an “inspirational leader” by BBC Director-General Tim Davie, Ms Landor’s departure from her £200,000 a-year role came as a shock to World Service staff.

After cutting 380 jobs and closing ten radio services, including BBC Persian and BBC Arabic, to meet a BBC £28.5m savings target, Ms Landor warned that the World Service could not bear any further pain.

In an internal memo explaining her decision, Ms Landor wrote: “I remain deeply concerned about the operational capability of the World Service if additional cuts continue to weaken it further.”

“Over the past two years we have faced tough choices resulting in cuts which have incrementally impacted our global reach and the breadth of our services.”

She said the service had made “decisions to stop programmes and close platforms that were valued by our audiences. But what makes me proud is our refusal to let reduced funding stifle us.”

“Instead, we have transformed, restructured and innovated, driven by a clear vision for a digital future that we are actively working to implement.”

The World Service must not be subsumed into the BBC’s wider newsgathering, Ms Landor warned.

“The essence of the World Service in English and 42 languages needs to be protected. It must be able to retain its distinctive universal voice regardless of how deeply it integrates into the wider BBC News framework,” she wrote.

“And it needs to continue to be a genuine international public service capable of reaching people and parts of the world in need of trusted news and information.”

The World Service’s audience dropped 12 per cent to 318 million, according to the BBC’s 2022-3 annual report.

The reach of its television service fell 19 per cent to 105 million while in radio it dropped nearly a quarter, falling 24 per cent to 121 million.

The service is still relied upon by millions of people around the world as a trusted source of information – BBC News Arabic launched an emergency radio service for the Gaza Strip in response to the conflict in the region.

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In a speech last month, Mr Davie said responsibility for funding the World Service should be transferred back to the government.

The cost of the service was paid for by the Foreign Office until 2014. “We cannot keep asking UK licence fee payers to invest in it when we face cuts to UK services,” Mr Davie said.

BBC names joining an exodus of talent over the past few years include long-standing sport news presenter Garry Richardson, who steps down from his Today programme role after 43 years.

Royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell retired after 25 years with the BBC set to appoint its first Royal editor. Mark Easton and Daniella Relph are said to be in the frame for the high-profile role.

The BBC has previously lost Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel, Andew Marr and Lewis Goodall to commercial rival, Global, the leading radio network and podcast broadcaster.

The broadcaster has been required to make deep cuts as it faces a funding gap of £400m by 2027 following a two-year licence fee freeze. Although the monthly charge rose in April, the inflation metric chosen by ministers will add a further £90m to the funding gap, the BBC said.

The BBC Studios Natural History Unit is proposing to make 7 per cent of its creative roles redundant amid a slowdown in natural history show production, with streamers tightening their belts after years of expansion.

Studios, the BBC’s commercial wing, is also set to axe up to 13 roles in its Kids production department, with fewer hours of children’s programming being commissioned.

The Newsnight cuts, along with the relocation of an extended BBC News at One to Salford, will make a £7.5m contribution to a plan to cut spending by £500m.

Meanwhile BBC News channel presenter Martine Croxall is set to commence legal action against the broadcaster after being off air for over a year.

The news anchor is taking the BBC to an employment tribunal, according to a listing for a hearing in London Central.

Ms Croxall is challenging the process which saw her miss out on a chief presenter role when the BBC’s domestic and international news channels were merged last year.