BBC journalists and broadcast workers have walked out over plans to cut 3800 jobs.

The 24 hour strike – the first of four rolling stoppages – will disrupt radio, TV and internet output.

Flagship news programs such as ‘Newsnight’ could be blacked out. The prestigious Radio 4 ‘Today’ program, BBC TV news and 24 hour channel, BBC News 24, also face disruption.

Up to 10 000 employees are likely to participate in the strikes, which are in protest against BBC plans to cut costs by $470 million and will phase out some of the key elements of BBC independence over the next 10 years.

Some of the plans inlcude:

The BBC’s royal charter will run for another ten years, until 2016.

The board of governors will be scrappedand will replaced by two bodies – the BBC Trust and an Executive Board.

Current BBC chairman Michael Grade will be the first chairman of the trust, which will represent the licence fee payer and will be responsible for ensuring the BBC’s independence.

The trust will have significant levels of approval over BBC budgets and strategies.

The licence fee will stay in place for the next 10 years.

The government will decide on the right level for the fee after 2007, and will look at alternative ways of funding the BBC after 2016, including subscriptions.

The possibility of sharing the licence fee with other public broadcasters will be considered during the life of the next charter.

The BBC should not chase ratings for ratings’ sake, and its output should not clash with its commercial rivals.

The number of independent productions should be increased as the corporation has exclusive access to licence fee funding.

The BBC is expected to take a leading role in the development of digital services in the UK, including the proposed analogue switch-off.

Broadcast regulator Ofcom will be given increased powers to assess the performance of the BBC, including assessing the impact of any proposed new services.