BBC uproar as five news presenters faced with reapplying for jobs on news channel
Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone, Geeta Guru-Murthy, Kasia Madera, and Annita McVeigh have not presented on BBC News in over nine months.
The five BBC presenters currently off air due to a recruitment dispute following the merging of the BBC News channel and BBC World News have reportedly been asked to reapply for jobs for a second time. Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone, Geeta Guru-Murthy, Kasia Madera, and Annita McVeigh have not been seen on air on BBC News for over nine months.
None of the women were successful in landing one of five UK-based chief presenter roles on the relaunched news channel last year, but they later complained about the fairness of the recruitment process. The jobs went to Matthew Amroliwala, Yalda Hakim, Christian Fraser, Lucy Hockings, and Maryam Moshiri.
They have not presented on the BBC News channel since March last year. Some of the group of women have fought for equal pay, and they are all over the age of 45.
Now, Deadline has reported that BBC News has now invited the women to reapply for two chief presenter roles: one opened up by Yalda Hakim’s defection to Sky News and another newly-created position.
Express.co.uk has contacted all five women for comment. The BBC told Express.co.uk: "We don’t comment on HR matters I’m afraid."
According to the report, if they are unsuccessful in their application they face being offered a correspondent/presenter role, which would be considered a demotion for the experienced anchors.
The five women have more than 100 years of experience at the BBC between them yet would still have to complete lengthy application forms and submit showreels to be considered for the two available roles.
“The fact they are being made to go through this process after such a year is being viewed by many of us in the newsroom with disbelief, when their skills and abilities are well known, and they are urgently needed back on air,” Deadline quoted a BBC News staffer as saying.
All have been on full pay while they are not on air, it is understood.
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The BBC was pressed into beginning an investigation into its recruitment process last summer.
This was said to have looked at allegations that some of the five had been promised jobs on the merged channel but the internal investigation found no evidence of the claims.
Ironically, while off air on BBC News, Geeta Guru-Murthy appeared on an epsiode of the BBC show Antiques Road Trip with her brother Krishnan, who was competing on Strictly Come Dancing at the time.
The BBC merged its UK and international news channels in April as part of a bid to cut costs and reinvent the news channel for a TikTok generation.
