The BBC was asked under the Freedom of Information Act to say how many job titles in the news division (which comprises 7,598 staff) contain certain words. According to the FoI results then, BBC News has:
321 editors
173 directors
826 assistants
363 producers
57 heads.
12 controllers
16 coordinators
34 deputies
20 executive
6 managers
Fewer than half of BBC News staff have "journalist" in their job title. 14 people have "change" in their job titles, six have "coordinating and six "managing".
The Press Gazette also reminds us that:
The BBC employs more than 100 staff earn more than Prime Minister David Cameron, including a number of people in the news division.
They include: director of news and current affairs James Harding (salary £340,000), his deputy Fran Unsworth (£183,000), head of newsroom Mary Hockaday (£142,814), head of newsgathering Jonathan Munro ( £165,000) and managing editor Keith Blackmore (£160,000).
Far be it from me to defend the BBC, but this is a bit unfair, isn't it? Surely the vast majority of producers and assistants are actively involved in newsgathering on some level: research, phone calls, leg work, possibly even doing some recording.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, It's the 321 editors I'm laughing at. That's a pretty broad term at the BBC, isn't it? Some of them are opinion-mongers, and don't do any editing. And what about "directors"? 57 heads? Of what?