Unions representing BBC staff say they’re organising protests next week. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) says on its Web site that “To mark our anger at the unfair and one-sided conclusions reached by Lord Hutton, members of the NUJ working in news and current affairs will hold a rally to assert our independence of Government. We will also lobby Members of Parliament to demonstrate that we will not accept attempts to compromise the BBC’s independence.”
Media Network understands that BBC staff across the UK will hold rallies outside their offices from noon to 2pm on Thursday, 5 February. Today, a full page advertisement supporting ousted Director-General Greg Dyke, paid for by voluntary donations from 10,000 BBC employees, appears in the UK’s largest-selling quality newspaper, the Daily Telegraph. The BBC has distanced itself from the ad, saying it wasn’t an official Corporation initiative.
