The International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today expressed its strong support to striking
journalists at the BBC World Service who are protesting at the Corporation's
plans to outsource its South Asian programmes to companies in India and Pakistan.
The 24-hour strike,
which is part of the on-going campaign "Save the BBC World Service" by South
Asian journalists, is also supported by the National Union of Journalists in England
and Ireland (NUJ)
and the Broadcast Entertainment Cinema and Theatre Union (BETCU) which have
campaigned over the last 15 months against this restructuring programme.
"The IFJ fully supports these journalists who are not only
defending their jobs but the integrity, quality and independence of the
BBC World Service," said Jim Boumelha, IFJ President. "At a time when media
face unprecedented crisis, pushing staff to give up
full time jobs and being offered a choice between unemployment or lower terms
jobs in unstable locations is nothing short of a scandal."
According to
journalists' unions, the BBC management plans to off-shore its Hindu programmes
and half of its Urdu and Nepali output away from London
to production companies based in India
and Pakistan.
The South Asian journalists and their unions fear that the plan would cost 34
editorial jobs in Hindi, Urdu and Nepali sections and lead to the loss of
editorial independence in unstable countries.
"There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the BBC
management's off-shoring plans will put at risk seventy years of first-class
journalism and expose their journalists to political and commercial
pressures beyond their control," added Boumelha. "IFJ
affiliates have added their voices to the protests over the plans and
have given full support to the NUJ's
campaign to defeat the BBC's plans."
For more
information contact the IFJ at +32 2 235 2207
The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 123 countries
worldwide
