BBC monitoring service to shed 100 jobs amid £4m funding cut
Around 100 jobs will be axed at the BBC Monitoring service as part of a £4m funding cut from 2017.
The monitoring service supplies news from media sources around the world, translated into 100 different languages and available in over 150 countries, and has been funded by the licence fee since 2013.
The Mazar-i-Sharif bureau in Afghanistan will close, but an office in Kabul will be maintained, while new bases will be set up in Istanbul and Jerusalem.
As part of the restructure, BBC Monitoring is also expected to move from its current base in Caversham Park, Reading, to a location in London.
The job losses equate to nearly a third of the department's current 320 staff.
The BBC said it will shortly begin consultation with staff and unions.
Francesca Unsworth, Director of the BBC World Service Group, said: "Like all media organisations, BBC Monitoring has to keep pace with the new landscape of digital and social media.
"And, like the rest of the BBC, BBC Monitoring needs to make savings."
Current operational costs are £13.2m but the service will see an annual £4m reduction in funding from next year.
