Is this really a bad day for the BBC?

By Torin Douglas BBC Media correspondent

3,780 posts have been earmarked for closure in the next three years

It was "the worst day in the BBC's history", according to Luke Harding, of the broadcasting union Bectu. Jeremy Dear, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, accused BBC director general Mark Thompson of "ripping the heart out of the BBC".

They were responding to the announcement of 2,050 job cuts in programme departments such as news, drama and factual and learning - on top of 1,730 in support areas already announced.

The unions are meeting on Wednesday to discuss their next move, including possible ballots for strike action.

But if it really was such a bad day for the BBC, why did national newspapers seem relatively unconcerned? The reports of the cuts were all on inside pages with restrained space and headlines.

Even the Guardian, which often goes overboard on media stories, buried it well down on page five, with few details of which jobs were to be closed.

Make no mistake, the cuts are substantial. 3,780 posts have been earmarked for closure in the next three years - 19% of the BBC's workforce.

The answer is that the first news of this week's cuts came last December, when the plans for thousands of job losses were widely reported.

At that stage they received a general welcome from politicians, the BBC's competitors and its critics.

A slimmer BBC, diverting more of its money into programmes, was a message that went down well - and Thompson believes it helped secure the BBC its favourable Green Paper, with the prospect of a further 10 years for the licence fee.

So if not the worst day in the BBC's history, how bad is the news for BBC staff? And what impact will the cuts have on listeners, viewers, online users and licence-payers?

Make no mistake, the cuts are substantial. 3,780 posts have been earmarked for closure in the next three years - 19% of the BBC's workforce.

'Quarter of staff'

Add in the 2,400 posts which will go when it sells off its studio and broadcast subsidiaries, and the reduction in the BBC headcount comes to around 6,200 - not far short of a quarter of its 28,000 staff.

The main focus has been on backroom jobs, so that more of the BBC's income goes into programmes. Across its professional service divisions, such as finance, personnel and marketing, 46% of posts will go, through redundancy, natural staff turnover or outsourcing. In programme departments, some of the cuts are also in administrative staff.

Union leaders - and many staff - fail to see how such cuts can be made without damaging the output.

But programme-makers are going too. The 420 posts being lost in News include several correspondents and reporters - five from the specialists in social affairs, two in consumer affairs, several in world affairs (including posts in Dakar, Berlin and North America) plus many producers and technicians who put the reports onto the air.

Outside London, many of the 735 jobs going are directly programme-related. The same is true of the posts in radio and television news, TV current affairs and 'factual and learning', which produces documentaries and education programmes.

Union leaders - and many staff - fail to see how such cuts can be made without damaging the output. BBC managers agree it will be hard but say that, if programme-makers work together better, they can reduce wasteful duplication and simplify the decision-making process.

'Fewer repeats'

They point to dozens of news staff being sent to cover events such as the American election or the homecoming of Ellen MacArthur. And they say bulletins don't need to be tailored quite so specifically for different radio and TV networks as they are at the moment.

Where licence-payers will notice a difference, according to Mark Thompson, is in new programmes and services funded from the savings.

"For the licence payer", he told me, "it means fewer repeats on BBC One, more investment in comedy, in current affairs, in drama and landmark factual programmes on Radio 4, and many other benefits but it's true that for many members of staff this is going to be quite a tough period."

Many staff believe that "tough" understates it. They're looking to their unions to decide what action should be taken next and the NUJ, Bectu and Amicus will be meeting jointly to decide on a strategy.

They've already said they will ballot for strike action if the BBC makes compulsory redundancies - and with cuts on the scale envisaged, it has refused to rule them out.

The first impact of the changes on listeners and viewers could be industrial action.