Financial Times: TV production companies fear Channel 4 privatisation threatens ‘indy’ scene The Guardian: David Attenborough accuses ministers of ‘short-sighted’ attack on TV networks The Guardian: Armando Iannucci leads criticism of secrecy over BBC’s future Deadline.com: Hugh Grant, Neil Gaiman & Michael Sheen Sign Letter Attacking UK Government’s “Short-Sighted Political & Financial Attacks” On The BBC Lionel Barber, Twitter: I signed this petition because I don’t think the future of the BBC and public broadcasting should be debated in secret by a small group of unaccountable people… “Government officials told Channel 4 to delete parts of annual report ‘at odds’ with privatisation” by Chris Burn for the Yorkshire Post, 12/08/2022 “The James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture” by Emily Maitlis for the Edinburgh Television Festival, 24/08/2022 “Privatising Channel 4 would only strengthen Putin’s hand” by Andrew Mitchell MP for the Times, 17/03/2022 “Letter: The BBC’s decision is on the right wavelength” by Professor Tim Luckhurst for the Financial Times, 16/03/2022 “Letter: BBC frontline reporters exemplify UK soft power” by David Manning for the Financial Times, 07/03/2022 “Channel 4 means more to the British people than an empty sell-off” by Karen Bradley MP for the Times, 26/07/2021 “No Tory should want to privatise Channel 4” by Ruth Davidson for the Telegraph, 08/07/2021 “Privatising Channel 4 is cancel culture at its worst” by Chris Matheson for the Times, 06/07/2021 “The United States needs a BBC” by Elisabeth Braw, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, in Foreign Policy magazine, 28/01/2021 “United Kingdom broadcasters lead Netflix”, Informitv, 06/05/2021 “Is UK public broadcasting still ‘fit for purpose’ in the digital age?” By Jamie Medhurst for The Conversation, 17/11/20 “This crisis has shown what public service broadcasting can do” by Roger Mosey for Prospect, 8/4/20 Creating and measuring dynamic public value at the BBC by Mariana Mazzucato, Rowan Conway, Eleonora Maria Mazzoli, Eva Knoll and Sarah Albala, December 2020 Tim Davie’s Introductory Speech as Director General, September 2020 “Why Ofcom must find its backbone”, Steven Barnett and Julian Petley on impartiality in context of GBTV launch, 2/3/21 An Assessment of the Economic Impact of the BBC by KPMG, March 2021 “Why television is good for us” by Peter Bazalgette in British Journalism Review, a distillation of his 2021 Charles Wheeler lecture, March 2021 “Public broadcasting: does the UK’s regulator have the public interest at heart?”, Steven Barnett in The Conversation 26/4/21 “BBC licence fee settlement: Further cuts will wound the sector” Report by Enders Analysis, November 2020 “Can Tim Davie save the BBC?” by Jean Seaton in Prospect, 3/10/20 “The war on the BBC is real.. and it’s organised” by Peter York in the New European, 1/10/20 “#DefundtheBBC: the anatomy of a social media campaign” by Steven Barnett in The Conversation 10/6/20 “The Consequences of Privatising Channel 4”, report by Patrick Barwise and Gillian Brooks, May 2016 “Channel 4’s David Abraham: why wreck a winning formula with privatisation?” by David Abraham (then CEO of C4), 8/5/16 “Channel 4 may be a privatisation too far: here’s why” by David Hutchison in The Conversation, 4/2/16 A future for public service television: content and platforms in a digital world (the Puttnam Report), Goldsmiths, June 2016 “Why the BBC Matters: Memo to the New Parliament about a Unique British Institution” Steven Barnett and Jean Seaton in The Political Quarterly, August 2010 (old and paywalled but still very good): Guardian article by Peter York summarising the arguments of the book with useful myth-busting section. 24.10.20 Reuters Institute Digital News Report June 2020 (shows the BBC is most trusted news brand in USA after local tv news) BBC: After a decade of cuts, serious dangers lie ahead’ Voice of the Listener and Viewer Bulletin Spring 2020 ‘The BBC and the battle for truth: Can the corporation save itself and the nation from fake news and culture wars?’ New Statesman 19.2.2021 FT article ‘Ofcom calls for overhaul of UK public service broadcasting rules’ 8.12.20 The future of public service broadcasting House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, March 2021 Public service broadcasting: as vital as ever House of Lords Select Committee on Communications and Digital, November 2019 A Privatised Future for Channel 4? House of Lords Select Committee on Communications, July 2016 BBC Charter Review House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, February 2016 Future of the BBC House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, February 2015 Government White Paper: “A BBC for the future: a broadcaster of distinction”, May 2016 BBC Charter, December 2016 Agreement between BBC and Secretary of State, December 2016 Find out how you can take part in the discussion.
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