BBC Snoozify Verify’s live blog is winding down following the departure of former Head of News Deborah Turness, who launched the live service last June as a “an exciting step towards even greater transparency”. As soon as she was out the door, it was only a matter of time before the new leadership took a cleaver to it. Nobody reads it, and whenever it occasionally posts a story, it is a disaster. Don’t say Guido didn’t warn you…
The Times reports Lindsay McCoy, BBC Verify’s executive editor, gave staff the bad news in an internal memo:
“Unfortunately, the format hasn’t matched how people want to consume our work and it isn’t reaching the audience numbers we would like.
“As a result, we’ve taken the decision to focus our efforts where we can make the greatest impact. That means strengthening our presence on the main BBC News website and live page.”
At its peak, the overall BBC Verify team employed 60 people at a cost of £3.4 million. It remains to be seen what happens to the live blog staff…
Starmer loyalist and Housing Secretary Steve Reed told Sky News that Starmer should not be replaced:
“We saw what the Tories did. They were in power for 14 years, and after 2016, I think we had nine education secretaries, seven chancellors, and five Prime Ministers. Doomscrolling through Prime Ministers doesn’t resolve the problem.”