Post by Teddy Bear on Sept 28, 2008 23:20:25 GMT
It will be interesting to see how the BBC will respond to the threat by the Tories, to either do more to help heal "broken Britain', or else face losing part of its licence fee.
I wholeheartedly agree with the Conservative party criticism that the BBC lacks the vision necessary to do this, although I would go further and state that they lack any potential to come to this vision. The basic left liberal mentality of those running this behemoth have no access to the creativity necessary to influence the public in the way required to heal society's wounds. If anything, they have done much to inflict this injury, much less have a clue how to reverse it.
More likely, faced with their predicament, especially if the Tories come to power in the next election, which seems likely in the present climate, is they will do their best to deter the British voter from making that choice.
We'll see what transpires.
I wholeheartedly agree with the Conservative party criticism that the BBC lacks the vision necessary to do this, although I would go further and state that they lack any potential to come to this vision. The basic left liberal mentality of those running this behemoth have no access to the creativity necessary to influence the public in the way required to heal society's wounds. If anything, they have done much to inflict this injury, much less have a clue how to reverse it.
More likely, faced with their predicament, especially if the Tories come to power in the next election, which seems likely in the present climate, is they will do their best to deter the British voter from making that choice.
We'll see what transpires.
Tory Party Conference: Tories tell BBC to heal Broken Britain
The BBC should be at the forefront of tackling the issue of 'Broken Britain' by actively promoting social policies and radically looking again at its programmes it offers to young people or risk part of its licence fee, according to the Conservatives.
By Andrew Porter, Political Editor
Last Updated: 6:49PM BST 28 Sep 2008
The £3.3 billion that the corporation gets through the licence fee brings "huge responsibilities" and the BBC needs to show a "broader vision", according to the man in charge of David Cameron's media policy.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Jeremy Hunt, the Shadow Culture, Media, and Sport Secretary, accused BBC bosses of not having enough "vision".
And he opened the possibility of some of the licence fee being re-distributed if the Corporation failed to show it was about more than "just audiences."
He said: "They get a £3.3 billion guaranteed cheque every year and with that investment by the nation's taxpayers comes huge responsibilities. What I'd like to see from the BBC is a broader vision of how they can help us tackle the big broken society issues: the rise in knife crime, gun culture, broken families - all the things that are really intractable problems that people in Westminster scratch their heads trying to solve."
For the first time Mr Hunt said that he believes that rather than just putting on programmes that debate the issues and put a balanced argument the BBC needs to come up with new ways of tackling the problems. He said politicians do not have the same reach.
He said: "The problem is that in Westminster we know that a speech by a politician will have a fraction of the influence as a programme on the BBC. The BBC has huge, huge influence and it could be a huge force for good. So I'd like to see their vision of how they can play that constructive role."
The 'Broken Society' issue has become central to David Cameron's agenda and yesterday he again said that "parts of our society are badly broken." This week at the party's conference in Birmingham he will try again warn that more needs to be done to address the social ills that persist.
The issue is controversial and has attracted some internal criticism of Mr Cameron. Boris Johnson, the London Mayor, recently disputed whether Britain is 'broken.'
But Mr Hunt's radical ideas and insistence that the BBC needs to do more to justify its licence fee will lead to fears among the corporation bosses that the Conservatives are planning to "top slice" the licence fee - taking some from the BBC and giving it to other broadcasters who have public service requirements.
He said: "The days when pub service broadcasters said we've helped by raising the debate and putting the debate on the political agenda and that's enough - I think those days are over. Public service broadcasters can do a lot more."
He added that that BBC3 has "miniscule audiences", and yet costs over £100million a year to run.
"I'd like to see the BBC articulate how it can harness the incredible reach that it has though it's channels to help us tackle some of these big problems. It will never be at the direction of politicians because we're a free society and that plurality is very important.
"Most of the major decisions that have shaped our broadcasting policy were taken by Conservatives. We set up ITV, we set up Five in 1996. We licensed BSB & Sky in the late 80s."
The Tory party's relationship with the BBC has never been smooth. So will a Tory Government do more to ensure, particularly now that times are tough for voters, that the "reservoir of cash" that the BBC swims in will be better used or cut?
"Broadly speaking I'm happy with the amount of money that's going into public service broadcasting through the license fee. The question is whether the BBC gets the best possible value for money out of those pounds.
"They get a £3.3 billion guaranteed cheque every year and with that investment by the nations taxpayers comes huge responsibilities. What I'd like to see from the BBC is a broader vision of how they can help us tackle the big broken society issues: the rise in knife crime, gun culture, broken families. All the things that are really intractable problems that people in Westminster scratch their heads trying to solve.
"The problem is that in Westminster we know that a speech by a politician will have a fraction of the influence as a programme on the BBC. The BBC has huge huge influence and it could be a huge force for good. So I'd like to see their vision of how they can play that constructive role."
The Broken Society and Broken Britain themes are central to the Cameron offering. Here Mr Hunt, for the first time, is saying that the BBC needs to get far more involved in helping the country address its problems.
"I'd like to see the BBC articulate how it can harness the incredible reach that it has though it's channels to help us tackle some of these big problems. It will never be at the direction of politicians because we're a free society and that plurality is very important.
"The days when pub service broadcasters said we've helped by raising the debate and putting the debate on the political agenda and that's enough - I think those days are over. Public service broadcasters can do a lot more."
The BBC3 television channel has "miniscule audiences", and yet costs over £100M a year to run, he says.
He adds: "What I'd say is actually we have huge social problems with our teenagers in Britain. We've had 24 murders this year in London alone. If I could see how BBC3 was going to play its part in changing social norms and reducing the number of people who carry knives. If I could see that link I'd feel much more comfortable about the BBC spending that money but I don't think simply having large audiences is enough."
He is deliberately vague about what the BBC can do - something people could say about a lot of the Tory chat on so-called Broken Britain - but is clear the Corporation has to up its game.
The BBC should be at the forefront of tackling the issue of 'Broken Britain' by actively promoting social policies and radically looking again at its programmes it offers to young people or risk part of its licence fee, according to the Conservatives.
By Andrew Porter, Political Editor
Last Updated: 6:49PM BST 28 Sep 2008
The £3.3 billion that the corporation gets through the licence fee brings "huge responsibilities" and the BBC needs to show a "broader vision", according to the man in charge of David Cameron's media policy.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Jeremy Hunt, the Shadow Culture, Media, and Sport Secretary, accused BBC bosses of not having enough "vision".
And he opened the possibility of some of the licence fee being re-distributed if the Corporation failed to show it was about more than "just audiences."
He said: "They get a £3.3 billion guaranteed cheque every year and with that investment by the nation's taxpayers comes huge responsibilities. What I'd like to see from the BBC is a broader vision of how they can help us tackle the big broken society issues: the rise in knife crime, gun culture, broken families - all the things that are really intractable problems that people in Westminster scratch their heads trying to solve."
For the first time Mr Hunt said that he believes that rather than just putting on programmes that debate the issues and put a balanced argument the BBC needs to come up with new ways of tackling the problems. He said politicians do not have the same reach.
He said: "The problem is that in Westminster we know that a speech by a politician will have a fraction of the influence as a programme on the BBC. The BBC has huge, huge influence and it could be a huge force for good. So I'd like to see their vision of how they can play that constructive role."
The 'Broken Society' issue has become central to David Cameron's agenda and yesterday he again said that "parts of our society are badly broken." This week at the party's conference in Birmingham he will try again warn that more needs to be done to address the social ills that persist.
The issue is controversial and has attracted some internal criticism of Mr Cameron. Boris Johnson, the London Mayor, recently disputed whether Britain is 'broken.'
But Mr Hunt's radical ideas and insistence that the BBC needs to do more to justify its licence fee will lead to fears among the corporation bosses that the Conservatives are planning to "top slice" the licence fee - taking some from the BBC and giving it to other broadcasters who have public service requirements.
He said: "The days when pub service broadcasters said we've helped by raising the debate and putting the debate on the political agenda and that's enough - I think those days are over. Public service broadcasters can do a lot more."
He added that that BBC3 has "miniscule audiences", and yet costs over £100million a year to run.
"I'd like to see the BBC articulate how it can harness the incredible reach that it has though it's channels to help us tackle some of these big problems. It will never be at the direction of politicians because we're a free society and that plurality is very important.
"Most of the major decisions that have shaped our broadcasting policy were taken by Conservatives. We set up ITV, we set up Five in 1996. We licensed BSB & Sky in the late 80s."
The Tory party's relationship with the BBC has never been smooth. So will a Tory Government do more to ensure, particularly now that times are tough for voters, that the "reservoir of cash" that the BBC swims in will be better used or cut?
"Broadly speaking I'm happy with the amount of money that's going into public service broadcasting through the license fee. The question is whether the BBC gets the best possible value for money out of those pounds.
"They get a £3.3 billion guaranteed cheque every year and with that investment by the nations taxpayers comes huge responsibilities. What I'd like to see from the BBC is a broader vision of how they can help us tackle the big broken society issues: the rise in knife crime, gun culture, broken families. All the things that are really intractable problems that people in Westminster scratch their heads trying to solve.
"The problem is that in Westminster we know that a speech by a politician will have a fraction of the influence as a programme on the BBC. The BBC has huge huge influence and it could be a huge force for good. So I'd like to see their vision of how they can play that constructive role."
The Broken Society and Broken Britain themes are central to the Cameron offering. Here Mr Hunt, for the first time, is saying that the BBC needs to get far more involved in helping the country address its problems.
"I'd like to see the BBC articulate how it can harness the incredible reach that it has though it's channels to help us tackle some of these big problems. It will never be at the direction of politicians because we're a free society and that plurality is very important.
"The days when pub service broadcasters said we've helped by raising the debate and putting the debate on the political agenda and that's enough - I think those days are over. Public service broadcasters can do a lot more."
The BBC3 television channel has "miniscule audiences", and yet costs over £100M a year to run, he says.
He adds: "What I'd say is actually we have huge social problems with our teenagers in Britain. We've had 24 murders this year in London alone. If I could see how BBC3 was going to play its part in changing social norms and reducing the number of people who carry knives. If I could see that link I'd feel much more comfortable about the BBC spending that money but I don't think simply having large audiences is enough."
He is deliberately vague about what the BBC can do - something people could say about a lot of the Tory chat on so-called Broken Britain - but is clear the Corporation has to up its game.