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BBC Tells Today Programme Staff to Prioritise TikTok and Instagram Content First
The Guardian reported that BBC Today correspondents were instructed last week to focus first on social platforms. Traditional radio output including the flagship show faces deprioritization amid £500m savings targets.
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BBC correspondents assigned to the Today programme were told last week that social and digital platforms now rank as the top priority, The Guardian reported. The directive requires staff to produce content first for TikTok, Instagram and similar services, which effectively lowers the standing of traditional television and radio output including the three-hour Today broadcast.
Cuts already implemented have reduced the number of BBC journalists available.
As a result, the programme may rely more often on non-BBC reporters and spokespeople, particularly during the opening segment of each edition. Radio 4 and Today lost their dedicated correspondents in earlier savings rounds. Those posts were eliminated, leaving the programmes to compete with other BBC outlets for correspondent time.
The main presenting roster on Today was trimmed from five to four after Amol Rajan left the show. The World Tonight on Radio 4 will be discontinued. Today still reaches well over 5 million listeners each week.
The BBC faces a savings target of at least £500m. Matt Brittin serves as the new director general. A BBC spokesperson said radio remains enormously important to BBC News and Today remains the flagship programme.
The same statement added that ways of working must reflect both the savings target and changing audience habits, while assuring listeners they will continue to hear all correspondents. One Radio 4 insider described the shift as feeling like a tweak but amounting to a body blow.
