Philippa Childs, the head of media and entertainment union, Bectu, said it was “far from ideal” that the cuts are taking place at the same time as the BBC’s charter renewal when the current charter expires in 2027.
The charter, drawn up by the government, sets out the terms and purposes of the BBC’s existence and normally lasts for about a decade.
Childs said: “I’m not sure how you can make informed decisions about the long-term future of the organisation when it will be in a substantially diminished place at the end of the process than the beginning.”
The National Union of Journalists said the proposed cuts would be “devastating for audiences and communities everywhere”.
John Sailing, the NUJ’s national organiser for the broadcasting sector, said: “Previous cuts have meant that our members are already being asked to do more with less, and are at serious risk of burnout. What’s worse is that there’s more to come.
“It’s clear the charter renewal is not going to come soon enough to stop these cuts, and that’s why we’re calling on the government to urgently intervene.”
Former World Tonight presenter Robin Lustig said he was “very sad” to hear the programme was being “killed off”.
In a post on X,, external he said “It has a long and honourable history as one of the more thoughtful BBC news programmes and I am proud to have been associated with it for more than 20 years.”
BBC News boss Munro said ending The World Tonight after 56 years was a “very difficult decision”.
He said it was a “very strong journalistic offer. But we make another programme called Newshour, from the same newsroom… so we can make one programme for two audiences, which is obviously more efficient”.