BBC raises come despite of scandals

LONDON, July 8 (UPI) -- A year of scandals did not stop the British Broadcasting Corp. from awarding senior executives hefty pay raises, observers said.

BBC's Director of Vision Jana Bennett's salary increased 24 percent from $851,000 per year to $1.05 million in 2007 despite a scandal involving a trailer for a documentary that wrongly suggested the queen angrily left a photography session with celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Departing Jenny Abramsky, director of Audio and Music, was given a 27 percent raise to $823,000 per year despite scandals in both radio and television programming, The Telegraph reported.

The raises were made public as the BBC cut 2,500 jobs and most staff were given 4 percent raises for the year, the report said.

But, BBC Director-General Mark Thompson said executive salaries at the BBC were "a tiny fraction" of pay in commercial television.

Executives involved in the scandals also saw bonuses cut by as much as 40 percent, he said.