Be careful what you wish for: the BBC must be defended in the run up to charter renewal
Staff outside BBC Broadcasting House (Credit: Loop Images Ltd)
4 min read
Now is the time to stand up for the organisation that brings the country together like no other.
A quick flick through the BBC website, streaming services and podcasts and you will remember why it matters. Yes, Strictly and Traitors, but also the local news, BBC Bitesize and the weather where you are. Great cultural and sporting moments, from the Proms to the Premier League and so much in between.
The BBC is the largest single commissioner of the creative sector in the country and that’s one of the highest sectors for economic growth. It is the world’s most trusted news outlet and the country’s number one media brand. It reaches nine out of 10 UK adults every month. It contributes around £5bn to the UK economy each year.
There are two at least possible motives here – money and power
And that’s after over a decade of being subject to real-terms cuts in income from the licence fee and the cost of funding the free TV licences for eligible over-75s. This has resulted in some reductions to regional output, but no reduction in the quality of news, drama, entertainment and all the other things we use the BBC for.
There have clearly been mistakes and missteps at the BBC. But the BBC is rightly subject to intense regulatory and public scrutiny and as we have seen this week, leaders taking responsibility for the mistakes. Worldwide it’s a powerful and well-known symbol of Britishness and the soft power this brings, particularly with the BBC World Service, is irreplaceable. We have something uniquely British and special and it’s time to stand up for it.
Why? Because scrutiny of public figures matters. Original, high-quality storytelling from around the country and representing the variety of our national life matters. Thrilling music, drama and other forms of creativity to suit a range of tastes.
Obviously, we also get high-quality creative output from other outlets – creativity is one of the things we do best in this country, from the fully commercial to the non-profits. But our non-commercial creative sector, of which the BBC is the largest commissioner, is the research and development section of the wider creative industries – we need it.
The funding of the BBC and the BBC charter are effectively under a rolling policy process. There are good proposals around to make a clearer separation between political decision making and the functioning of the BBC. Let’s look at these carefully. If we value the soft power, the trusted British brand and the investment in our creative industries and contribution to growth the BBC brings, we need to make sure it has the resources and the political independence needed. But at all times over the coming process of charter renewal, let’s be careful what we wish for if we take decisions which risk the sustainability of our BBC.
Anyone currently watching the latest series of Shetland on BBC iPlayer, or for that matter any other long-standing detective series, will know that after the discovery of the body, we need to ask: who benefits, who had the means and who has a motive? To prevent the slow death by a thousand cuts to our BBC, rather than wringing our hands and failing to protect something so uniquely and proudly British, let’s ask ourselves: who would benefit if the BBC was weaker, smaller, less able to scrutinise the powerful and hold politicians and others to account? There are two at least possible motives here – money and power.
Maybe nobody is – yet – deliberately setting out to destroy the BBC. But every time you hear someone asking for it to be “slimmed down”, ask yourself: what it is about the BBC’s duty to inform and educate, or its ability to entertain and reflect the entire nation in that entertainment, that they don’t like?
Baroness Debbonaire, Labour peer and former shadow culture secretary
