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Response to the BBC’s Contribution to Informed Citizenship
Patricia Holland
For the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom: November 2004
1. The concept of informed citizenship is central to the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom’s aims.
We argue that free and democratic media are central to an active democracy, and that the members of a democratic nation should be served as participating citizens of that nation whether or not they are also served in other capacities -for example as consumers.
Our comments on the BBC’s paper on their contribution to ‘informed citizenship’ are made with these basic principles in mind.2. A commitment to informed citizenship has been at the heart of the BBC’s remit since radio stood alone in the 1920s. We welcome the renewal of that commitment in the multi media age and its extension into digital channels and interactive services. We agree that the BBC should be at the forefront of technological innovation, in order to serve its users in their capacity as citizens as broadly as possible (4.3.2).
3. The exercise of citizenship does not only involve receiving information, but also requires participation. The BBC is in a unique position to provide outlets for many diverse voices, and also to create space for debates, audience participation and interaction. We welcome the expansion of these aims, across the BBC’s numerous outlets, including digital and interactive services (3.2: 4.2.1: 5.2.1: 6.3).
4. We welcome the commitment to universality of provision and of appeal, which goes along with the aim to serve groups of citizens who have little market power, and so are likely to be overlooked by a market based system, in particular children and the poorer members of society (3.2.3: 4.1).
We regret the running down of the innovative Community Programmes Unit which brought an entirely new perspective, launched attractive new programme formats, involved many social groups who had previously been hardly represented and contributed an enormous amount to participatory television and to citizenship. There is a case for the BBC to provide properly unionised community training facilities.
5. The renewal of the BBC’s long standing commitment to high quality news and current affairs programmes, which must be accurate and impartial and directed at the population as a whole, is to be welcomed and is clearly at the heart of the democratic project (2.1.1; 6.2.1). We applaud the BBC’s achievements, the breadth of its coverage, its specialisms and its expertise, and we note several points:
5a. diversity of journalistic formats. With a proliferation of outlets, there is space for clearly labelled partial reporting, as well as innovative formats, a vigorous expression of opinion and risk taking -even in the most prestigious programmes. Recent criticisms of the BBC by the Hutton Enquiry have meant that the language of the BBC’s paper on Informed Citizenship is over-cautious in this respect (3.1). In our view citizens who seek to be informed tend to welcome journalism that probes into difficult areas.
5b. independence of BBC journalism (3.1). Because the Corporation is dependent on the government of the day for the renewal of its licence fee -and indeed for its very existence as a non-commercial broadcaster- there is a real danger that political pressures may compromise some challenging programme making, and reporting in sensitive areas. There have been some notorious occasions in the past when pressure has very publicly been brought to bear (Kate Adie criticised over her reporting of the Libya bombing; Margaret Thatcher’s demand that reporters should refer to ‘our’ troops; the Broadcasting Ban on the voices of members of proscribed organisations, as well as the Hutton criticisms). Research done at Cardiff University showed that BBC reporting of the Iraq war actually tended to support the government line (despite the government’s own impressions!). A commitment to informed citizenship is a commitment to independence, and the BBC should be seen to be completely independent of the government of the day, and of the state.
5c attractive programmes (3.2.2) The aim to make difficult material accessible may take several forms: the introduction of new and innovative formats (Holidays in the Axis of Evil; huge studio discussions on the war in Iraq and other urgent topics); the use of explanatory visuals, reconstructions and the whole gamut of available technology to make complex topics accessible (7.1.4); the introduction of formats which focus on a ‘softer’ agenda (Fiona Bruce); the personalisation of reporting. We feel that this broad range of informational programming is welcome, and, indeed very important to the democratic project, but the development of newer formats should not be used as an excuse to marginalise mainstream journalism.
5d marginalisation of current affairs. Despite the commitment expressed in the BBC’s paper (5.1), and the introduction of some innovative political programmes late nights and midday (4.1.1) the shrinking of mainstream current affairs - in other words journalist-led series which can pursue a journalistic agenda without any concessions- has continued apace. The only remaining long running series, Panorama, has long been removed from a peak time slot, and other highly respected journalist-led series, such as Correspondent, have long disappeared.
Continuous news services like BBC News 24 cannot do the job of carefully-researched and well-constructed current affairs programme. One of the hallmarks of BBC journalism has been the ability to provide topical documentary programmes which get behind the headlines. That must remain one of the standards on which the BBC is judged.
This marginalisation of reliable current affairs series is particularly serious in the broader context of pressure on the commercial channels, which means that ITV has virtually abandoned mainstream current affairs, and Channel Four has no regular slot. The maintenance of mainstream, serious current affairs is the core of any commitment to an informed citizenship.
6. Having said that, we would argue that the BBC’s paper tends to use a relatively narrow definition in identifying the elements which contribute to informed citizenship -concentrating on journalism, education and newer interactive services (Introduction: 5.1). In our view the strength of the BBC and the public service framework within which it operates is precisely the ability to juxtapose information with entertainment, and everything from lifestyle and travel, to games shows, soaps, sport and major dramas. Above all it can innovate with programming that does not fit pre-conceived genres - producing highly political dramas, satire as well as current affairs in popular styles. The knowledge that there is a core audience which is aware and well informed, can affect the whole of the programming output. In this way the concept of informed citizenship is seen in a broader context. An informed democracy does not merely reside in journalist-led programming but also in the cultural context in which it is presented. The scope of the BBC should not be reduced merely to material that a market system is unlikely to produce.
7. With this in mind we regret the language of ‘market failure’ which is used in this paper (4.3.1). Such a phrase implies the predominance of the market, and could lead to a situation where an organisation such as the BBC merely slots in any bits which happen to be missing. This is a pernicious concept. The BBC should not be required to address ‘market failure’, but should operate according to its own priorities, as indeed it has claimed (4.3.2). Citizenship is independent of the market and includes social groupings who may have little or no market power, such as children, the poor, minority language groups, the elderly and others.
8. We would emphasise that the BBC is the central component of a broader ‘public service system’ in UK broadcasting. Broadcasting can operate as a system, competing for quality rather than revenue precisely because of a diversity in funding sources. Hence the BBC provides competition and benchmarks for the terrestrial commercial channels, and for satellite and overseas based channels, including Sky and CNN (4.3.1).
9. The BBC, as the UK national broadcaster has a duty to make the machinery of democratic government accessible to its users, so we welcome and support the broadcasting of Parliament, select committees etc, and argue that this role could be extended.
10. Importantly the licence fee has ensured that the broad range of the BBC’s output is available to every household with a television set. This means that all citizens have absolutely equal access to the whole range of services - including on the other channels. This has been an essential component of informed citizenship which it is important to extend into the digital world. The introduction of the Freeview box is an important innovation in this direction.
11. (3.3.5) The account of the safeguards posed by the Governors in this paper is relatively weak. Traditionally BBC Governors have been establishment figures, usually ignorant of broadcasting - the sort of people who are reported on, rather than those who do the reporting, (or even watch television with any consistency). There should be a full, extended and rounded debate over BBC governance, in the run up to the White Paper next year. It is to be recommended that the governors should represent a broader spectrum of society, should include a democratically elected element, and some experienced broadcasters.LINKSDCMS website
BBC Charter Review site
BBC's Contribution to informed Citizenship
Last modified: Wednesday, December 1, 2004
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The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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