Eagle-eyed viewers flocked to social media to call out the embarrassing moment online.
The BBC suffered a mortifying blunder live on air (Image: Getty)
The BBC suffered an embarrassing error when producers returned to the studio after airing a segment about Shabana Mahmood during the weekend news bulletin. On Saturday afternoon (June 27), political correspondent Harry Farley returned to the airwaves to discuss the latest news hitting the headlines. But the 30-year-old broadcaster was left utterly red-faced after the camera panned down as he spoke, revealing an image of the BBC News studios playing behind him on a screen.
It didn’t take long for eagle-eyed viewers to flock to X – formerly known as Twitter – to share and chuckle at the mortifying blunder online. One user penned: “When the ‘live’ BBC newsroom shot is shown to be someone sat in front of a TV screen!
When the ‘live’ BBC newsroom shot is shown to be someone sat in front of a TV screen!
The camera moves, shows the edge of the screen then the light gets switched off.
“The camera moves, shows the edge of the screen, then the light gets switched off.” Another quipped: “This is like finding out Santa isn’t real”. A third chimed in with: “Obviously a recording of someone recording BBC News on the TV.”
Meanwhile, others argued that the ‘screen’ behind him is actually a window with cables feeding through it. One user suggested: “It’s a window”, as another agreed: “Or he is in front of a window looking into a room behind”. It comes as the corporation implements sweeping, multi-million-pound cost-cutting and restructuring to save £500 million. This includes cutting 2,000 jobs across the company over the next three years.
Last week, the corporation announced 550 job cuts in news, nations and TV and radio content as part of its first stage in its cost-cutting plan. In an email to staff, interim CEO of BBC News, Jonathan Munro, outlined the proposals, including ending Radio 4’s The World Tonight, and reducing the number of permanent presenters on Today from five to four from September, with a single anchor on Saturdays.
BBC One’s Breakfast will no longer be shown on Sunday morning from September, and the production teams making Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg and Newsnight will merge. Munro said the proposals announced on Wednesday (June 24) include 200 job losses in the news division, resulting in savings of £25million.
Viewers questioned if the corporation was playing a clip of the BBC newsroom on a TV (Image: BBC)
Some TV production at weekends will be shared across the News Channel and BBC One bulletins, with a review of the chief news presenter roles “to balance audience needs with the best value for money”. Several other Radio 4 programmes will also end next year: the Midnight News, Money Box Live, AntiSocial, The Law Show, and Crossing Continents.
On the World Service, The Inquiry, The Conversation and The Fifth Floor will end. It comes after former BBC journalist Emily Maitlis suggested the corporation struggles to retain top talent, claiming it’s “not good at holding on to good people” as she reflected on the broadcaster’s future and funding challenges.
In a new interview with Radio Times, the former Newsnight presenter addressed concerns about the BBC following the departures of several high-profile figures. When asked whether the corporation has a problem with female staff members, she insisted: “It’s not just about women; I don’t think the BBC is good at holding on to good people.
“I understand that organisational impulse, that there’s no one more important than anyone else. But don’t be surprised if the people that can move do move.”
