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Whither the BBC facing a six-year licence fee freeze?
Defenders of public service broadcasting have been shocked and saddened by the ease with which the coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats managed to rail road the BBC into accepting draconian cuts in its income.How was it, they asked, that a great British institution, respected around the world for its independence, could get so comprehensively ambushed by the government of the day? Why did the management roll over and accept a crippling six-year freeze of the annual licence fee and costly new commitments without proper financial compensation?
The second Radio Free Press podcast explored these issues in a discussion hosted by the former BBC political correspondent Nicholas Jones. He was joined by Ivan Lewis, the Labour front bencher who is now the shadow secretary of state for culture, by Tony Lennon, the former President of the broadcasting union Bectu, and Laura Davison, acting broadcasting organiser for the National Union of Journalists.
Their task was first to assess the momentous events in October 2010 when the BBC suddenly found itself caught up in the last-minute bargaining over the cuts being made as part of Budget deficit reduction package introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. Then they looked ahead to the future strategies which the Opposition, trade unions and journalists thought should be adopted to protect the BBC’s financial and editorial independence.
The podcast was produced by Claire Colley
Music composed by Tony Swettenham
Radio Free Press is a campaigning service, aimed at informing people who are concerned to preserve independent, diverse and accountable media in the UK. Please pass the link to the podcast on to colleagues, friends and fellow campaigners.
LINKSRight click to download for listening at your leisure
Last modified: Thursday, June 23, 2011
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World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
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DATELINE: 26/3/10
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MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Papers from the Media for All Conference
MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
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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