Digital Only: List of Affected Countries as BBC Moves to Sack 382 Workers

• Not less than 382 BBC staff members from across the world are on the verge of losing their high-paying jobs
• This is as the British media house is planning to go completely digital on some of its World Services
• The corporation also disclosed that this resolve is influenced by the need to save costs due to shrinking means of funds

In line with its plan to move to its digital-only platform, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Thursday, September 29, announced that it will have to lay off some staff members across the world.

BBC specifically stated that the "...proposals entail a net total of around 382 post closures", but explained that no television language service will be shut down, while some productions will move out of London.

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BBC digital-first resolve: Change in audience behaviour

According to BBC, the decision was influenced by a drastic change in the behaviours of its 364 million weekly audiences who now prefer to access news online more than before.

BBC's service director, Liliane Landor, in an online statement, said this:

“There is a compelling case for expanding our digital services across the World Service in order to better serve and connect with our audiences."

BBC reported that Landor added:

"The way audiences are accessing news and content is changing and the challenge of reaching and engaging people around the world with quality, trusted journalism is growing.”

BBC massive sack: Frozen funding, rising cost of production

The British media outfit stated in the statement that the plan to go fully digital in some of its platforms came against the backdrop of a freeze on its funding and an increase in the cost of operation.

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Still on cost-saving, the media house disclosed that its international services needed to make savings of £28.5 million as part of wider reductions of £500 million.

It stated that 11 languages (Azerbaijani, Brasil, Marathi, Mundo, Punjabi, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese) are already digital only.

Those to add to the above languages from across the world are:

1. Pidgin, Igbo, and Yoruba (Nigeria)
2. Urdu (India, Pakistan)
3. Chinese (China)
4. Gujarati (Gujarat)
5. Indonesian (Indonesia)

Radio services in the following languages will stop as soon as the proposal is approved:

1. Arabic
2. Persian
3. Kyrgyz
4. Hindi
5. Bengali
6. Chinese
7. Indonesian
8. Tamil
9. Urdu

Exclusive comment

An insider who spoke with Legit.ng confirmed the news and disclosed that the proposal which will affect staff members globally was made known to them in a webinar convened on Thursday.

The source noted that the proposed digital-first policy will necessitate the merging of some BBC platforms across the world.

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Radio presenter who got sacked due to "R" factor in pronunciation gets new job

Social media was agog in celebration as a Nigerian lady who was sacked from her radio job had landed another one.

Zainab Fakunle lost her OAP job due to the "R" factor in her speech which her former employers were not comfortable with.

An "R" factor in speech is the inability to pronounce the letter "R" properly. Some non-native speakers of the English Language who have the disorder tend to swap "R" for "L" or vice versa.

Source: Legit.ng