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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/sep/26/bbc-to-raise-salaries-for-off-air-staff-at-world-service-and-monitoring
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| BBC to raise salaries for off-air staff at World Service and Monitoring | BBC to raise salaries for off-air staff at World Service and Monitoring |
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| The BBC is to increase the pay of staff at World Service and BBC Monitoring in line with the rest of the news department after an internal review revealed significant disparities. | The BBC is to increase the pay of staff at World Service and BBC Monitoring in line with the rest of the news department after an internal review revealed significant disparities. |
| In a separate row to the gender pay dispute at the BBC, the corporation has faced growing frustration among staff at World Service and Monitoring about how much less they are paid than presenters, reporters and producers on the BBC’s network news. | In a separate row to the gender pay dispute at the BBC, the corporation has faced growing frustration among staff at World Service and Monitoring about how much less they are paid than presenters, reporters and producers on the BBC’s network news. |
| Sources have told the Guardian that few if any news presenters on the World Service are being paid more than £50,000 a year and were shocked to find that presenters of the BBC’s network news, such as Huw Edwards, were earning almost £600,000. A freedom of information request earlier this year revealed that the average salary of a senior broadcast journalist at the World Service was more than 10% less than on network news – £38,037 compared with £44,023. | Sources have told the Guardian that few if any news presenters on the World Service are being paid more than £50,000 a year and were shocked to find that presenters of the BBC’s network news, such as Huw Edwards, were earning almost £600,000. A freedom of information request earlier this year revealed that the average salary of a senior broadcast journalist at the World Service was more than 10% less than on network news – £38,037 compared with £44,023. |
| However, the increase is unlikely to quell all the anger among World Service and Monitoring staff. The BBC said it would only apply to off-air staff such as producers, with the remuneration of presenters and on-air journalists addressed as part of a wider review about how much the public service broadcaster pays on-air talent. | |
| This wider review was sparked by the fallout from the publication of the BBC’s list of top earners in the summer, which sparked a row about a gender pay gap at the corporation because it revealed that just a third of its best-paid stars are women and the top seven earners are all men. | This wider review was sparked by the fallout from the publication of the BBC’s list of top earners in the summer, which sparked a row about a gender pay gap at the corporation because it revealed that just a third of its best-paid stars are women and the top seven earners are all men. |
| James Harding, director of BBC news and current affairs, said the organisation was increasing pay for staff at World Service and Monitoring, which tracks news from other providers around the world for BBC staff, the UK government and commercial subscribers, after a review by the accountancy firm PwC found there were “some differences in pay for some groups of people”. | James Harding, director of BBC news and current affairs, said the organisation was increasing pay for staff at World Service and Monitoring, which tracks news from other providers around the world for BBC staff, the UK government and commercial subscribers, after a review by the accountancy firm PwC found there were “some differences in pay for some groups of people”. |
| The PwC review, which is expected to be published in full later on Tuesday, concluded that this gap existed for “historic and economic reasons”. World Service and Monitoring used to operate separately from the BBC and were funded by the government. However, in 2014 they were integrated with the rest of the news department. | |
| Harding said: “We are all keenly aware of our responsibility to the licence fee payer, seeking to provide the highest-quality services at the best possible value for money. So, we have considered carefully the argument that internal and external market forces should continue to be factors setting World Service and BBC Monitoring pay. | Harding said: “We are all keenly aware of our responsibility to the licence fee payer, seeking to provide the highest-quality services at the best possible value for money. So, we have considered carefully the argument that internal and external market forces should continue to be factors setting World Service and BBC Monitoring pay. |
| “We want a BBC where people move around and between our newsrooms. We believe a wider range of voices at work across BBC News will ensure we reach more stories and keep connected to everyone. To help make this happen, we have decided to align median pay.” | “We want a BBC where people move around and between our newsrooms. We believe a wider range of voices at work across BBC News will ensure we reach more stories and keep connected to everyone. To help make this happen, we have decided to align median pay.” |
| The World Service operates in more than 30 languages and has a weekly audience of 269 million. Tony Hall, the director general, has described it as the “jewel in the crown” of the BBC and it is undergoing its biggest expansion since the 1940s. This expansion includes the launch of a controversial Korean service aimed at people in North Korea, which is opposed by the North Korean government. |