Lisa Nandy says BBC staff have been strongly affected and have expressed frustration that high-paid presenters and executives are unlikely to be affected The BBC’s sudden announcement of 2,000 job cuts has had a “very strong effect” on staff, the UK’s culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, has said, as employees express frustration that highly paid presenters and senior staff will not be the prime targets of the cuts. Nandy, who has been having conversations with BBC staff during discussions about the broadcaster’s charter renewal, is understood to be keen that staff are involved in making the cost-cutting plan, which will affect as many as 10% of the broadcaster’s 21,000 employees over the next three years. Continue reading...

Culture secretary says BBC must ‘get a grip’ in wake of film featuring son of Hamas official and Bob Vylan Glastonbury row The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, has demanded to know why no one at the BBC has lost their job over the airing of a documentary on Gaza that featured the son of a Hamas official. A review looking into the broacast of Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone is reportedly due to be published next week. The programme first aired in February, but was pulled by the broadcaster after the link between its 13-year-old narrator and Hamas emerged. Continue reading...