Recent consumption of the news and current affairs workhorses of World Service and Radio 4 has found them to be on strong form. Beyond Today, The World At One, PM, The World Tonight, Newshour, the 6 O'Clock News, and The Newsroom continue to demonstrate a measured and intelligent response to a febrile news agenda. (Apart from the present tense headlines favoured by some editors of The Six)
So it's disappointing to read of an industrial dispute between 'management' and the teams producing Newshour and The World Tonight. It's over proposed rota changes - more, shorter shifts, and an end to freelance cover to boost numbers. Yes, the idea is to save money; hang waiting til June for the bigger picture promised by Jonathan Munro.
A ballot of NUJ members on the shows recorded 94% supporting both strike action and action short of a strike, on a turnout of 97%. What would be fair would be to wait for a new Director of News to be appointed, and see where this fits in with his/her priorities.
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