BBC to axe long-running interview show amid plans to cut 130 news roles

2 months ago 13

The BBC is set to axe long-running interview show HARDtalk as part of plans to cut 130 news roles, as it looks to reduce costs.

HARDtalk will finish in March next year, the broadcaster said, after nearly three decades on air.

The hard-hitting interview programme, hosted by journalists including Stephen Sackur, runs Monday to Thursday and began in 1997.

Writing on X following the announcement, Sackur said it was "sad news" personally, but also "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".

He added: "At a time when disinformation and media manipulation are poisoning public discourse, HARDtalk is unique - a long-form interview show with only one mission, to hold to account those who all too often avoid accountability in their own countries."

Former president of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? fraudster Charles Ingram, the late Venezuela leader Hugo Chavez and Russian foreign affairs minister Sergey Lavrov are among the interviewees who have been questioned on the show over the years.

After a previous two-year freeze on the licence fee, the BBC has been under increasing financial pressure in recent years. It has projected its total deficit will increase to £492m for the 2024-25 financial year.

'We are sharing some difficult decisions'

Other proposed changes include moving production of the overnight programme on 5Live from news to the BBC's Nations and Local teams, domestic radio taking World Service summaries overnight, and combining Radio 5Live and Radio 2 news production.

BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness also said the bespoke news service for the Asian Network would be closed, with the station instead taking Newsbeat bulletins, while also commissioning a new locally made current affairs show.

The latest cuts come after the broadcaster announced last year that it was reducing flagship show Newsnight to 30 minutes and axing about half of its 60 jobs.

In an email sent to staff, Ms Turness said 185 roles would be closed, with 55 new roles opened - a cut of 130 roles overall.

"I want to acknowledge that this is a tough day, when we are sharing some difficult decisions we have had to make to operate within our budgets," she said.

Ms Turness said more than 40% of a planned £24m saving from the BBC News budget would come from "non-staff measures including reductions to spend on contracts, suppliers, distribution and physical buildings".

National Union of Journalists (NUJ) general secretary Michelle Stanistreet described the cuts as 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 the decisions "represent comparatively modest savings", she said, "yet will disproportionately undermine the breadth and range of news content the BBC currently provides".

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