BBC strike silences TV news

BBC journalists ignored the pleas of their editor-in-chief on Nov 5, taking strike action over plans to cut their pension benefits and driving familiar morning news programmes off the air.

The Today programme on Radio 4 was replaced with pre-recorded material, including a documentary on bird life in the Humber estuary, while Radio 5 Live and the BBC's morning television news were produced with skeleton staff and unfamiliar presenters. The strike follows moves by the BBC's management to rectify a deficit in its staff pension fund that is estimated around £1.5bn, although it has not been accurately measured yet. Bectu, the broadcasting union, and Unite, two of the three groups representing the broadcaster's staff, called off strikes after concessions by the management, but the third, the National Union of Journalists, carried out its threats to walk out.