STAND UP FOR JOURNALISM AND THE BBC!

Just been watching my NUJ colleague Jeremy Paxman give BBC bosses a grilling on Newsnight. Rightly so. Tbe BBC is proposing to axe thousands of journalists' jobs in the interests of ..... what?
Programmes are dumbed down (what happened to BBC Drama ?) and gobby "superstars" are paid millions while the overall standard of programmes declines, Unions may decide to ballot staff today and any strikes could take place within weeks, affecting flagship shows including the news, live entertainment ratings winners such as Strictly Come Dancing, live sports coverage and, if the action is sustained, even long-running serials such as EastEnders.
The job cuts are likely to be divided in the main between the news and factual divisions, with factual reportedly losing up to 735 posts - probably translating into as many as 660 redundancies.
News in London will see up to 490 post closures, resulting in up to 370 redundancies
Let's get our priorities right.Let's stop wasting money "dumbing down." stand up for quality programmes like Today, Arena and Newsnight and stop the erosion of intelligent programming which, frankly, is turning more and more people off.
In a couple of weeks' time I will be joining my trade union colleagues in Manchester to protest at a media culture which puts profit before quality control. In my 20-odd year career as a journalist,standards and wages have continued to fall . Mine included. We need your support. Here's what the NUJ will be doing on Stand Up For Journalism day.

"Journalists from across the UK will descend on Manchester on November 5 to urge their bosses to stand up to media owners.The National Union of Journalists is organising a lobby of the Society of Editors conference at the Radisson Hotel on Peter Street.
Union president Michelle Stanistreet, who works for the Sunday Express, said: “The media is owned by a smaller and smaller group of extremely wealthy corporations.They make big profits but they want more. So journalists face a constant round of job cuts and dwindling editorial budgets. This means that more and more news is just recycled press releases.
“We want our editors to join with us and stand up tothe culture of cuts. If they believe that journalismis important for democracy and for local communities they must take a stand.
”The Manchester event is one of the focal points of Stand Up For Journalism Day which will involve events all over Europe.There will be lobbies at the European Parliament,French National Assembly, and in towns and cities across the UK.
In Manchester journalists and their supporters will gather outside the offices of the Manchester Evening News on Hardman Street, off Deansgate at 12.30pm onNovember 5.They will march to the Radisson Hotel, on the site of the old Free Trade Hall, to lobby the editors’conference. There will be a rally in defence of journalism at 1.30pm in the Friends Meeting House on Mount Street.Michelle Stanistreet and NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear will be among the speakers.