FREENo 204 Autumn 2015£1 Journal Press of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom THE BBC JEREMY IS MUST BE DEFENDED … as Tories NEW HOPE 2 plan its leaner TO TACKLE future BIG MEDIA JANINA STRUK JANINA THE ASTOUNDING wave of public support for left wing Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn’s candidature for leadership of the party is a great basis for keeping RUPERT up the demand for curbs on media ownership. COULD BE Corbyn himself is a long-time fighter for true BACK and independent press freedom, alongside the CPBF, the media unions and other campaign FOR MORE groups. He has signed the Media Reform Fox mulls Coalition’s (MRC) public pledge to call Big Media 5 to account and restrict the share of the industry fresh bid the mega corporations can control. for Sky In August he was by miles the front runner in the leadership contest, and the leading candidate for deputy leader, Tom Watson, has signed it as well. He has a powerful record at defying the media barons, more so than any other MP in the way he took on the Murdochs over the phone- hacking scandal. The other Labour MP who came close was Chris Bryant, who is now shadow culture secretary, in charge of media policy. And if Tom Watson does fail to be elected deputy leader, another candidate, Ben Bradshaw, FREEDOM a one-time BBC journalist, has also signed the OF INFO MRC pledge. IN PERIL The MPs have pledged to “take steps within Parliament and my own party to promote the Yet another growth of a more pluralistic media environment 8 official bid by pressing for legislation that will provide new to tighten funding for invaluable areas such as local news, investigative journalism, youth media and digital the rules innovation, and that will temper the power of the largest media companies through the intro- Jeremy Corbyn has long supported the duction of thresholds in specific media markets.” media unions and activists against the big Jeremy Corbyn told the MRC: “A society corporations and spoke at the London rally to in which 70% of UK newspaper circulation is mark the 25th anniversary of the Wapping controlled by three wealthy families is clearly dispute in 2011. unfair and undemocratic. The work being done by the Media Reform Coalition and others is vital in put their money where their mouth was before pushing for media plurality which this country is the General Election with manifesto commit- For all campaign news go to so desperately in need of.” ments for media reform, and the views coming cpbf.org.uk Des Freedman, chair of the MRC, said: “This from the top leadership candidates suggest that Email: is a great boost for anyone who believes in a media reform still ranks as a priority for Labour’s [email protected] free and diverse media. The Labour Party had principles and policy direction.” BROADCASTING It’s that time of the decade, when the BBC’s BBC facing Charter, granted by Parliament, comes up for review. cutbacks, The BBC’s enemies in government and the commercial media combine to throw at it everything they’ve got, and its friends ‘a victim — campaigning and consumer groups, representing the rest of the population of its own — gather to try and defend it. Not always easy given management’s success’ propensity to cave in to threats and accept too much of the enemies’ agenda. DES FREEDMAN takes a But there is much more at issue than the searching look at the BBC’s structures, budget government’s plans for the and rules of operation. The whole future BBC and shows how of public broadcasting would be dangerous they are undermined if the corporation loses its critical mass to function as a universal public service. WHO WOULD have expected that one of the central debates about the future of the BBC would not be about its No-one wants to get rid of pro-business news coverage, its financial mismanagement or its alleged cover-up of the Jimmy Savile scandal but it completely; rather, about whether it should show Strictly on a Saturday night? commercial rivals want it The government’s Green Paper on BBC Charter Review signals the latest stage of a scuffle with the Corporation reduced to an elite rump, about how big, independent and accountable it should serving only those parts of the be. Dressed up as a sober debate about the purposes, scale community from which that they and scope of the BBC, the Green Paper consists of a series of proposals that, while drafted in Whitehall, could easily have been can’t derive enough profit — an conceived by the Daily Mail. audience for top-quality programming Culture Secretary John Whittingdale insists that he is rich enough to pay for it by subscription. Broadcasting unions “committed both to the future of the BBC and to its underlying have launched a Reithian mission”, but goes on to question the relevance in a This is behind all the calls to stop its “Love it or Lose it” digital age of the principle of universality, a founding principle of campaign which the this mission. Instead of encouraging the BBC to reach out across blockbuster entertainment shows, reduce its CPBF and other groups all platforms and to serve the whole community, it should focus news operations and cut back its website. If are backing. on “underserved audiences”, that is, those that commercial broad- Sign the petition at these succeed, then the public will be failed. casters deem to be unprofitable. http://bit.ly/bbc-lioli It seems the BBC’s very success is now its problem. The MEMBERSHIP RATES PER YEAR AFFILIATION BY ORGANISATION a) Individual membership £15 f) Fewer than 500 members £25 b) Unwaged £6 g) 500 to 1,000 £30 Join the c) Supporting membership £25 h) 1,000 to 10,000 £50 (includes free CPBF publications) i) 10,000 to 50,000 £115 campaign d) Institutions (eg libraries) £25 j) 50,000 to 100,000 £225 BBC (includes 10 copies of FREE Press) k) Over 100,000 £450 for press and I/We want to join the CPBF and enclose a cheque/PO for £ _______________________ Name _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ broadcasting Address ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ freedom Postcode ___________________________________________________________Tel ____________________________________________________________________ Join online at Email __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ www.cpbf.org.uk Organisation (if applicable) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Return form to CPBF, 23 Orford Road, London E17 9NL, 07729 846 146, [email protected] 2 Free Press Autumn 2015 Green Paper moans that the BBC is the dominant player in all the markets in which it operates, without acknowledging that it is, at The inquiry least hypothetically, subject to public scrutiny, and secondly that it is not even the UK’s largest broadcaster. Its annual income of £5.2 billion is dwarfed by Sky’s £7.6 billion. Nonetheless it is obsessed by the BBC’s impact on the they should be market and lists more negative than positive consequences arising from the fact that it reaches its impressive 96 per cent of the population. listening to But why should we measure the BBC simply in terms of its impact on the marketplace? Do we judge the NHS on the basis of WITH THE ten-yearly ordeal of the whether it makes life difficult for Bupa? renewal of the BBC’s charter well This is an austerity-led consultation, obsessed (much like the under way there are numerous BBC itself) by the pursuit of “efficiency” and “value for money”. inquiries and consultations going This applies even to those services where it would be hard to apply on. The culture ministry and the standard economic arguments such as the provision of different Commons media committee language services within the UK. So, for example, it notes that the have launched virtually identical cost of S4C in Wales and BBC Alba in Scotland is “considerably operations, to which the CPBF higher than cost per hour for English speaking content”. and others are preparing identical How could it be otherwise? The point of public service broad- submissions. casting is to reach out to minority audiences whatever the cost. But an alternative forum is But the Green Paper contradicts its own stated aim, to shift the setting up, more likely to listen BBC away from popular programming and to focus on content not to media reformers and come to provided by the market. positive conclusions . The Inquiry There is a restricted discussion of funding mechanisms with into Public Service Television for three options identified: a reformed licence fee (to allow for digital the 21st Century is to be chaired Lord Puttnam: film producer with consumption), a household payment and a combination of public by Lord Puttnam, the Labour- strong record of opposing media funding and subscription. Funding the BBC from general taxation supporting film producer who monopolies is dismissed on the basis that it would “risk lessening the BBC’s fought the winning battle in the independence from Government”. House of Lords to get a “public new modes of production and Given that the last two licence fee deals took place behind interest” test written into the 2003 distribution and a far more closed doors and that the most recent deal forced the BBC to part Communications Act – a crucial competitive and unstable economic fund the government’s welfare cuts, this is far from a convincing check on the Big Media monopolies. environment.” argument. Project partners include the It takes its inspiration from a The Green Paper does raise some important questions on British Academy, BAFTA, Vice, the previous landmark inquiry into UK underlying values and performance.