Post by Teddy Bear on Jan 29, 2014 18:50:43 GMT
The BBC are doing their best to present Newsnight as completely reformed, following the Savile/McAlpine debacles, as if changing the faces within are going to change the overriding mindset. They seem also prepared to spend any amount to do it, regardless of cost effectiveness, but as we know, it's never bothered the BBC before.
At present the Newsnight team comprise the following:
Jeremy Paxman, Kirsty Wark, Gavin Esler, Emily Maitlis, Ian Katz, Katie Razzall, Olly Lambert, and now they have just announced the appointment of Laura Kuenssberg. The number of women in the team now is for the BBC to prove that it's really not sexist following criticisms to this effect, although ladies of more advanced years seem not to remain in the corporation.
Now considering the Newsnight audience has dropped from about a million to about 600,000 in the last few years, and Jeremy Paxman alone makes £800,000 a year, is the licence fee payer really getting value for money for this programme?
The BBC won't say how much Ian Katz receives, but apparently the newcomer Laura Kuenssberg will be on £200,000. It's fair to assume the others are certainly on a six figure salary, which makes a fair chunk of cash to run this programme. Is it really worth it?
I somehow can't believe a private company spending this kind of money for such a small audience, but the BBC is not constrained by the same appraisals a private company has to make. But it shows that the BBC regards the ability to spout their propaganda is more important than the licence fee payers who actually want to watch it.
At present the Newsnight team comprise the following:
Jeremy Paxman, Kirsty Wark, Gavin Esler, Emily Maitlis, Ian Katz, Katie Razzall, Olly Lambert, and now they have just announced the appointment of Laura Kuenssberg. The number of women in the team now is for the BBC to prove that it's really not sexist following criticisms to this effect, although ladies of more advanced years seem not to remain in the corporation.
Now considering the Newsnight audience has dropped from about a million to about 600,000 in the last few years, and Jeremy Paxman alone makes £800,000 a year, is the licence fee payer really getting value for money for this programme?
The BBC won't say how much Ian Katz receives, but apparently the newcomer Laura Kuenssberg will be on £200,000. It's fair to assume the others are certainly on a six figure salary, which makes a fair chunk of cash to run this programme. Is it really worth it?
I somehow can't believe a private company spending this kind of money for such a small audience, but the BBC is not constrained by the same appraisals a private company has to make. But it shows that the BBC regards the ability to spout their propaganda is more important than the licence fee payers who actually want to watch it.
BBC hands new presenter Laura Kuenssberg a £200,000-a-year deal when show only has 600,000 viewers (that's 33p each)
By Hugo Gye
Newsnight's new presenter has been offered a £200,000-a-year contract to lure her away from ITV, it has emerged.
Laura Kuenssberg, a BBC veteran who is currently the business editor at ITV, is set to become Newsnight's chief correspondent next month.
It was today reported that she would be earning a salary of £200,000 to appear on the programme, whose average audience has slipped in recent years to just 600,000 viewers.
Her hefty salary - which could be an attempt to stop the star reporter defecting to Sky News - works out as 33p per viewer.
The deal, which is said to have angered other BBC staff, comes after the Corporation has been widely criticised for the high salaries paid to executives and on-screen stars.
And Newsnight has itself been embroiled in controversy after the show's editor was forced to quit in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.
The programme - which specialises in investigations and hard-hitting interviews - cancelled a programme exposing the former BBC star as a paedophile shortly after his death in 2011, and the next year it falsely accused Conservative peer Lord McAlpine of child abuse.
Editor Peter Rippon resigned and was replaced by Guardian journalist Ian Katz, who has hired Ms Kuenssberg and a number of other presenters in a bid to refresh the 34-year-old show and boost its viewing figures.
The new editor is thought to have brought a lighter touch to the programme with segments such as presenter Kirsty Wark dancing with 'zombies' on Halloween.
However, he also found himself in hot water when he described Labour MP Rachel Reeves, a guest on the programme, as 'boring snoring' in a message which he accidentally publicised on Twitter.
Newsnight once attracted audiences of up to 1million on a regular basis, but its viewing figures have collapsed to an average of 600,000 over the past few years.
Ms Kuenssberg's appointment as chief correspondent was announced in November, although she will not take up her post until next week.
After the news of her £200,000 salary emerged, one BBC employee criticised the deal as 'completely over the top', telling The Sun: 'She's no big ticket name.'
Jeremy Paxman, Newsnight's most popular presenter, is paid around £800,000, while the BBC has refused to release details of Mr Katz's pay.
A spokesman for the Corporation said: 'Laura is widely admired as one of the best broadcasters in the country, with a wealth of experience as both a reporter and presenter. Her appointment is a key part of the renewal of Newsnight.'
One reason for the lucrative contract could be to stop Ms Kuenssberg, 37, from being tempted by alternative offers - she is tipped as a leading candidate to replace Adam Boulton as political editor of Sky News.
The presenter, who was born in Italy but grew up in Glasgow and went to the University of Edinburgh, first joined the BBC in 2000 and rose to be chief political correspondent for BBC News.
She moved to ITV as business editor in September 2011.
- Presenter, 37, is moving from ITV to BBC2's flagship news programme
- She is set to be paid £200,000 - prompting anger from other BBC staff
- Kuenssberg will become the programme's chief correspondent next month
By Hugo Gye
Newsnight's new presenter has been offered a £200,000-a-year contract to lure her away from ITV, it has emerged.
Laura Kuenssberg, a BBC veteran who is currently the business editor at ITV, is set to become Newsnight's chief correspondent next month.
It was today reported that she would be earning a salary of £200,000 to appear on the programme, whose average audience has slipped in recent years to just 600,000 viewers.
Her hefty salary - which could be an attempt to stop the star reporter defecting to Sky News - works out as 33p per viewer.
The deal, which is said to have angered other BBC staff, comes after the Corporation has been widely criticised for the high salaries paid to executives and on-screen stars.
And Newsnight has itself been embroiled in controversy after the show's editor was forced to quit in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.
The programme - which specialises in investigations and hard-hitting interviews - cancelled a programme exposing the former BBC star as a paedophile shortly after his death in 2011, and the next year it falsely accused Conservative peer Lord McAlpine of child abuse.
Editor Peter Rippon resigned and was replaced by Guardian journalist Ian Katz, who has hired Ms Kuenssberg and a number of other presenters in a bid to refresh the 34-year-old show and boost its viewing figures.
The new editor is thought to have brought a lighter touch to the programme with segments such as presenter Kirsty Wark dancing with 'zombies' on Halloween.
However, he also found himself in hot water when he described Labour MP Rachel Reeves, a guest on the programme, as 'boring snoring' in a message which he accidentally publicised on Twitter.
Newsnight once attracted audiences of up to 1million on a regular basis, but its viewing figures have collapsed to an average of 600,000 over the past few years.
Ms Kuenssberg's appointment as chief correspondent was announced in November, although she will not take up her post until next week.
After the news of her £200,000 salary emerged, one BBC employee criticised the deal as 'completely over the top', telling The Sun: 'She's no big ticket name.'
Jeremy Paxman, Newsnight's most popular presenter, is paid around £800,000, while the BBC has refused to release details of Mr Katz's pay.
A spokesman for the Corporation said: 'Laura is widely admired as one of the best broadcasters in the country, with a wealth of experience as both a reporter and presenter. Her appointment is a key part of the renewal of Newsnight.'
One reason for the lucrative contract could be to stop Ms Kuenssberg, 37, from being tempted by alternative offers - she is tipped as a leading candidate to replace Adam Boulton as political editor of Sky News.
The presenter, who was born in Italy but grew up in Glasgow and went to the University of Edinburgh, first joined the BBC in 2000 and rose to be chief political correspondent for BBC News.
She moved to ITV as business editor in September 2011.