Departing Today programme editor Sarah Sands has described the BBC’s pay gap as a ‘shocker’, saying that it is worse than some businesses in the city.
The departing news editor, who completed her last shift on Friday after resigning in January, revealed that she had planned to stay at the BBC for another year, but left because of cuts to budgets and a lack of new talent in the organisation.
Her comments come after former footballer Gary Lineker pledged to cut his £1.75 million wage packet, as rows continue over the BBC’s pay structure for high-profile employees.
Sands, who was also editor of The Sunday Telegraph and Evening Standard, was appointed to the role in 2017.
Salaries ‘way too high’
She told The Sunday Times Magazine: “I think, even in the City, you wouldn’t get these [pay] multiples.
“You get a producer on £30,000 working 14-hour shifts and doing a hell of a lot of the work — the briefing, the background, the research, the fixing — and a presenter on £600,000. It’s a shocker… the salaries are way too high at the top.”
The editor also went on to discuss the BBC’s cut to budgets as it is moving towards a centralised approach to news coverage and news gathering.
Stories are likely to be shared between programmes, something that could undermine each show’s individuality. Describing her opposition, she said: “I liked news being a flotilla of little boats, and now there’ll be one mother ship.”
Another issue with the BBC, she said, is the lack of new talent as long-term staff stick around.
The organisation is cutting 450 jobs in the news department under plans to complete £80m of savings by 2022
An ‘honour’
“There’s not much turnover of staff at the BBC,” she added. “There’s a circle of hell of people who are always on attachments. It frees up a job if you go. That’s something people will think about now: if there is mass unemployment, should some of the more senior people go and be consultants or wise heads rather than snatching all the jobs?”
Sands described her time at the show as an ‘honour’ when she resigned in January.
The Guardian reported that she sent an email to staff saying: “I have decided that September is a good time to move on and pass this job to someone else. I loved Radio 4 as a listener, I loved it even more as a member of the team.
“But I come from a different world and I was never going to be a lifer. I am so proud of what we have achieved, championing intelligent broadcasting and political independence, under constant pressure.
“I have witnessed not only extraordinary professionalism and quick-witted determination here but also a heart-warming consideration towards one another.”
