Elected reps join in call for meeting with BBC to avert strike
16 May 2023
Political representatives from the North West have called for an urgent meeting with the BBC Northern Ireland Director Adam Smyth in an attempt to avert the strike action planned for Friday by local NUJ members opposed to recent cuts to services and programmes at BBC Radio Foyle.
Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Cllr Sandra Duffy, Foyle MP Colum Eastwood and East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell have written a joint letter to Mr Smyth seeking an urgent meeting. Earlier this year all three of the politicians met with the BBC in London to discuss the proposed cuts at the station and threat to jobs.
In the letter to the BBC director, the elected representatives said: “We are hugely concerned that if the strike action goes ahead this week it will have a detrimental impact on the reporting of local democracy in the North West.
“The loss of the flagship Breakfast Show programme and its replacement of a 30-minute news slot is insufficient to meet the needs of the region and we will be urging the BBC to rethink their decision and reinstate the Breakfast programme in full or to at least extend it to an hour-long broadcast.”
Calling for an urgent multi-political meeting, the local elected representatives said they were keen to find out from the BBC what their plans are to mitigate for the Election Count in the North West and would also be seeking reassurances from them about the future stability of the station.