Ireland & UK Broadcasters & Journalists - BBC & RTÉ Cuts Impact

I’ve spent more than 20 years working with broadcasters across Ireland and the UK. I've watched a single radio play change an artist's career. I've sat in studios with some of the finest broadcasters these islands have produced. And I've watched the industry change beyond recognition over the last decade, especially the last couple of years. And now, the BBC is cutting hundreds of jobs and closing broadcast services. RTÉ was promised €260 million for 2027 and has been allocated €240 million. Nobody has yet explained exactly what the Irish public stands to lose if that shortfall remains. Meanwhile, the BBC has just launched its 24-hour news channel on YouTube, and RTÉ is celebrating growing digital audiences. So if people are still watching and listening, why are we cutting back the very people who make the programmes? And who benefits when public broadcasters have fewer journalists asking difficult questions, fewer producers championing new artists and fewer resources to cover communities outside the major cities? There's a difference between holding the BBC and RTÉ accountable for their failures and allowing those failures to become the justification for stripping them of everything worth protecting. I've written about the money, the scandals, the political decisions and the people whose livelihoods are caught in the middle. I've also shared a few memories of Terry Wogan, Pat Kenny and Aidan Butler, and the days when radio could make a career almost overnight. Are the BBC and RTÉ being reformed, or are we watching public broadcasting being hollowed out in front of us? I'd especially like to hear from broadcasters, journalists, producers, freelancers, musicians and anyone who has worked inside these institutions. What are you seeing that the rest of us aren't? Full article below.