BBC blasted for ‘appalling’ treatment of five female news presenters pulled off air and left ‘in limbo’
THE BBC has been blasted for the 'appalling' treatment of five female news presenters.
The former news anchors were allegedly pulled off air and left 'in limbo' by the corporation who merged the UK News and World News channels.
The BBC, is facing pressure as five famous faces have been unable to work for months and have been at home against their wishes.
This comes as the publicly funded broadcaster establishes the structure of it's news service.
It's been reported that freelancers have been brought in to fill holes in the schedule whilst other staffers received "acting up pay" for presenting slots.
Meanwhile, five senior names including Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone, Geeta Guru-Murthy, Kasia Madera, and Annita McVeigh are sitting on the bench.
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One BBC employee who does not work for the news channel told , it was an “appalling” situation.
Another source said: “I think there is a huge amount of sympathy [for the presenters]. I don’t think it’s rocket science to say they have been badly treated.”
The outlet reports that whilst the presenters receive their full salaries whilst they are not working, there is 'no clear resolution' as colleagues grow increasingly angry at their treatment.
Insiders are reportedly 'alarmed' that the journalists who are in this position are all women over the age of 45 and some have either campaigned for equal pay or have been union representatives.
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It comes BBC is expecting to save more than £1million a year by cutting the numbers of presenters.
The merged channel will broadcast from London in the daytime and Singapore and Washington at other times.
Ahead of the spring launch, the BBC's Lucy Hockings, Christian Fraser, Matthew Amroliwala, Yalda Hakim and Maryam Moshiri were announced as the main presenters.
However, it means a number of well-known faces lost their presenting roles which also included Jane Hill, Shaun Ley and Ben Brown.
Their exits come after Joanna Gosling, David Eades and Tim Willcox took voluntary redundancy and broadcast their final bulletins.
Brown, 62, joined the broadcaster in 1988 while Gosling, 51, had been a BBC presenter for 23 years and Croxall, 53, for more than 30 years.
The BBC said: “We value all of our staff but we do not comment on individual HR matters.” Under the BBC’s consultation process, the broadcaster seeks alternative work for those at risk of losing their job. Redundancies only take place once these efforts have been exhausted.
The affected presenters were also offered the opportunity to apply for eight correspondent/presenter posts with the channel, although for some that might have been seen as a step down.
