Scottish independence: Fears over BBC coverage after £16m cut

CONCERNS have been raised over the future of BBC Scotland’s news and current affairs output in the lead up to the independence referendum and beyond.

The organisation faces losing £16 million from its annual budget of around £102m by 2017 as a result of an overall 16 per cent cut in the BBC’s funding. The broadcaster said it anticipates the loss of around 100 to 120 posts by that time, and has already announced a number of changes to its programming.

John Boothman, head of news and current affairs at BBC Scotland, told MSPs on Holyrood’s culture committee yesterday that “quality will not suffer, nor will overall hours”.

News and current affairs radio programmes, Newsweek Scotland and Scotland at Ten, are to be axed with Good Morning Scotland to go to a six-day operation.

Journalist Ian MacWhirter told MSPs there was a “long history of underfunding of broadcasting in Scotland”. He added: “In my experience network political programmes would have four times the number of staff as comparable political programmes.”