London, Oct 23, IRNA , The BBC has been criticized for wasting public money on the amount of staff they will send to the US for the presidential elections.
According to the Daily Telegraph Thursday, Britain’s public service broadcaster is reported to be deploying 175 staff, including 125 being dispatched from the UK to join the 50 already based in the US.
The number being used by the BBC, which is funded by licence fees, contrasts with its commercial rival ITV News sending up to 20 staff, while satellite broadcaster Sky News has said its team of 40 was “one of the biggest overseas operations” it has staged.
“The BBC constantly claim to be strapped for cash, so how can they afford such a massive junket?” Matthew Elliott, of the Tax- Payers Alliance, said.
“Of course they should cover the US election, but no other broadcaster is sending hundreds of people across to the States.
They should be more careful with licence fee payers’ money and cut out this unnecessary spending,” Elliott said.
John Beyer, of Mediawatch-UK also said that in comparison with the numbers that ITV and Sky are sending, the number does seem “excessive.”
“I wonder why the staff already there couldn’t cover the election adequately. They’ve been managing to cover the run-up to the election very adequately for the British audience,” Beyers said about the saturation coverage that started with the US primaries.
The BBC faced similar criticism for sending 437 employers to the Olympic Games in Beijing, outnumbering the amount of British athletes competing.
But the corporation is insisting that such staff numbers are needed to provide high-quality coverage of the election being held on November 4.
A BBC spokesman said the staff being employed would provide 150 hours of coverage across both radio and TV services, domestic and international.
“The US presidential election is a globally important story and the outcome will have an impact on the UK and the wider world.
Audiences would expect the BBC to apply high standards to our coverage,” the spokesman said.