Dear all,

The letter that was published in The Independent regarding the terms of the consultation relating to the Green Paper on the BBC Charter Review has now reached 193 signatories from academics in the field. This letter is reprinted below.  

The Charter Review signals the most serious challenge to the purposes and funding of the BBC in a generation. Whatever your views on the future funding, scope and purpose of the BBC, as teachers and researchers in the field we encourage you to make sure your concerns are heard. The Consultation ends on 8th October 2015. We will be submitting this letter, addressed to John Whittingdale, along with the MeCCSA response to the consultation. 

If you have not yet signed the letter please consider doing so NOW by following the link below. The more signatures we have the better. PLEASE SIGN THE LETTER here:

http://www.meccsa.org.uk/responses/bbc-charter-review/

Letter to John Whittingdale:

As teachers and researchers in media and journalism, we are surprised and concerned that the terms of the consultation based on the government’s Green Paper on BBC Charter Review are so skewed; they are so preoccupied with an assumed negative impact of the BBC on the commercial media market that they ignore the considerable evidence of the BBC's enormous contribution to the UK's creative industries and to society more generally.  The consultation therefore fails to consider the BBC's remit to serve all audiences, irrespective of background or geography, or to acknowledge the host of evidence about the public use, importance, and impact of the services of the BBC.
 
We fully understand the complexities involved in assessing the performance of the BBC, and are well aware that it has much work to do in representing diverse perspectives and populations. However, the Green Paper seems determined to repeat (without any empirical justification) those criticisms of the BBC that regularly surface in the Murdoch-owned press and similar newspapers. It also seems to bury any notion that UK citizens might be best served by a content provider that produces both popular and minority programmes and which broadcasts them across a range of platforms.
 
It is clear that the Green Paper's real intent is not to secure a future for a well-funded, genuinely independent and innovative public service provider, but to shrink the BBC in the interests of its commercial competitors. We urge the government to ensure that the Review embraces the widest possible range of independent evidence, and not to put at unnecessary risk an institution that remains internationally regarded as a major British achievement.
__________________________________

We also encourage you to write to your MP with your concerns – it is quick and easy. Details are on the above website. 

You may also be interested in attending the following event jointly organised by the BBC Trust, the University of Westminster and the MeCCSA Policy Group:
 
Tomorrow’s BBC: Who Governs?
Date:                   Thursday, 1st October 2015
Time:                   5.30pm – 8.30pm (followed by a drinks reception)
Location:             Fyvie Hall, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, W1B 2HW
 
This seminar will look at how the BBC of the future should be governed and regulated. Attendees will hear from a range of experts from inside and outside of the BBC and will be given the opportunity to ask questions of our panellists and to express their views from the floor.

Chaired by Steve Hewlett, the event will include contributions by Rona Fairhead (Chair, BBC Trust), James Purnell (Director Strategy and Digital BBC), Steve Barnett (University of Westminster), Richard Tait (Cardiff University), Tim Suter (Perspective Associates) and Sophie Chalk (Voice of the Listener & Viewer). 
 
To book your place, follow the link on the MeCCSA Policy network website:
http://www.meccsa.org.uk/networks/policy-network/

Places at this event will be given to those who register on a first come, first served basis. 
 
Very best for the new term

Natalie Fenton
Chair, MeCCSA

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