Month: May 2016

To the barricades to back BBC, says peer

The chair of an inquiry into public service broadcasting says people should take to the streets if the government attempts to limit BBC independence.

Film producer and Labour peer Lord Puttnam says public service broadcasting is vital in a healthy democracy – and a robust and independent BBC is key to this.

He warns the public to be vigilant as the BBC charter discussions get underway over the coming year. Even an attempt by the government to install its own hand-picked board of directors to the corporation would seriously weaken its independence, added Puttnam, perhaps best known as the producer of Chariots of Fire.

He said: “If our public service broadcasting comes under threat, we should hold the biggest march that has ever occurred in London – to show the government we won’t tolerate this kind of interference.

“I’m serious about this. We have to get the general public to understand how vital it is that our broadcast media remain independent in this country. The government wouldn’t even have to dismantle the BBC altogether – even imposing its own directors should bring people out onto the streets. We must fight to protect what we have.” The peer is heading a probe set up to consider the nature, purpose and future of public service broadcasting, due to report in June. On 4 May a public discussion event will take place in Liverpool as part of this process. Film director Ken Loach and TV producer Phil Redmond are among the speakers who will debate whether television serves people living across all regions of the UK.

'Democratic future’

Puttnam believes independent broadcasting is vital at a time when newspapers are dominated by proprietors whose agendas are often reflected in their reporting.

He warned that countries where broadcasters are controlled and leaned on by governments – Hungary and Poland, for example – also see a weakening of politics.

He said: “Public service broadcasting and parliamentary plural democracy are completely intertwined. It is so vital that we can trust what we are hearing and reading. If all our media was in private hands then I honestly believe we wouldn’t have a secure democractic future.”

The inquiry is timely, since the government will soon begin discussions over the BBC’s charter renewal.

Meanwhile, culture secretary John Whittingdale told a parliamentary committee last week that he believes Channel 4 – a state-owned but commercially-funded station with a public service remit – could be better off in private hands.

Puttnam is also keen to maintain plurality within the media. He said: “If I asked someone in the north how they would feel if Rupert Murdoch, for example, controlled all their media, the likelihood is they probably wouldn’t feel too comfortable.

“Plurality of ownership is so important – we need to know our news is not coming from someone with their own agenda.”

Written by CIARA LEEMING

Source: Big Issue North 

Lord Puttnam and Phil Redmond to discuss future of TV at Liverpool event 

Speakers including Phil Redmond CBE will discuss the future of television in an event hosted by film producer Lord David Puttnam in Liverpool tomorrow.

The Oscar-winning film producer and Labour peer is spearheading an inquiry into the future of UK broadcasting, and tomorrow’s event, co-hosted by Liverpool’s Writing on the Wall festival, will discuss whether TV reflects the lifestyles and opinions of people across the UK, or if it just a mouthpiece for the ‘London bubble’.

Speakers in the panel discussion will also include Ruth Fox, chair of the Hansard Society, and Nine Lives Media CEO Cat Lewis.

The event also wants to hear from producers and writers committed to making TV more relevant to people wherever they live, as well as from viewers themselves. It is one of seven events across the UK that will inform the Future for Public Service Television Inquiry, which plans to report next month.

Lord Puttnam said: “It is extremely important that voices from all over the UK, especially from vibrant cities like Liverpool, should be heard and reflected in this wide-ranging review of public service television. 

“This event, with its distinguished panel of speakers and participation from the audience, will make a significant contribution to our research and findings. We are keen to hear from people in Liverpool, either at this debate or more generally in submissions to the Inquiry.”

The event starts at 7pm and will be held at the The Black-E, 1 Great George Street, Liverpool. Tickets can be bought here.

Source: Prolific North 

Written by: David Prior 

Ken Loach and David Puttnam in Writing on the Wall Festival

Film director Ken Loach and producer Lord (David) Puttnam are in Liverpool this week to talk about the future of TV.

The public event at the Black-E on Wednesday is part of this year’s Writing on the Wall Festival which runs throughout May.

Does Television Represent Us? – chaired by Labour peer Lord Puttnam – is expected to be a lively panel discussion event, and will also include early findings from a new study looking into at how TV has contributed to political debate in Liverpool.

Ken Loach, Phil Redmond, Hansard Society chairman Ruth Fox and Cat Lewis (Nine Lives Media and nations and regions rep for indie producers’ association Pact) will discuss whether TV reflects the lifestyles and opinions of people across the UK, or if it just a mouthpiece for the ‘London bubble’?

To what extent does TV offer a space to talk politics or express the different lifestyles of people across all the regions of the UK?

Lord Puttman is currently heading a Future for Public Service Television Inquiry.

The Liverpool event is one of seven across the UK that will inform the inquiry, which plans to report in June.

Lord Puttnam said: “It’s extremely important that voices from all over the UK, especially from vibrant cities like Liverpool, should be heard and reflected in this wide-ranging review of public service television.

“This event, with its distinguished panel of speakers and participation from the audience, will make a significant contribution to our research and findings.

“We’re keen to hear from people in Liverpool, either at this debate or more generally in submissions to the Inquiry’

Source: Liverpool Echo 

 

 

Puttnam inquiry: government wants a diminished BBC

Film-maker David Puttnam has raised concerns that the government is bowing to pressure from vested interests to significantly diminish the BBC.

Following newspaper reports over the weekend that the government is preparing to stop the corporation scheduling popular shows such as Strictly Come Dancing against direct competition from other broadcasters, the Puttnam inquiry into public service broadcasting expressed in a statement its concerns about the handling of charter renewal by the culture secretary, John Whittingdale.

“We have been continuously assured by the culture secretary that he wants the BBC to ‘thrive in the years to come’, but the drip, drip of these leaks suggest the opposite, that the government wants a significantly diminished corporation,” it said.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport denied the suggestion that it aimed to “determine either the content or scheduling of programmes”.

The reports over the weekend prompted Labour’s shadow culture secretary, Maria Eagle, to accuse Whittingdale of unacceptable interference in the BBC before the publication of a white paper later this month. 

“The government needs to resist, and to be seen to resist, any undue pressure from vested interests, whether in the press or in broadcasting,” said a statement from the inquiry. “We urge the government to drop these and any other punitive and ill-considered proposals, and focus instead on drafting the serious and comprehensive framework for the BBC’s future that the corporation needs, and licence fee payers deserve. 

“If there is any truth that the government plans to interfere in the scheduling of popular programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing and Silent Witness, this would represent a unique, unnecessary and wholly inappropriate intervention.”

The inquiry welcomed rumoured measures such as the extension of the BBC charter from 10 to 11 years.

In response to the weekend reports, a DCMS spokesman said: “The government will be setting out its plan on the BBC charter in a white paper in May. The secretary of state has made it clear on a number of occasions that the government cannot, and indeed should not, determine either the content or scheduling of programmes.”

Source: The Guardian

Written by Jane Martinson