BBC SOLD
Steve Lawson rants on the sale of BBC Broadcast. I admire your passion, Steve.
It is odd to think that the BBC ONE announcers who in former years have embodied the essence of the BBC will be working for an Australian company, the BBC will not be the place from which its (network tv) programmes will be transmitted, and the people creating her brand image will not belong!
So how do I feel about to be sold off? Personally, not as disappointed as you might imagine. Yes it's sad but I have been knocking around the place for a while so the change will do me good. Certainly the range of work will be very exciting, and being released from the restrictive public service world will be interesting. A lot of weight is being given to conditions of service, but it's tough everywhere these days.
The big question is.... will it be good for public service broadcasting? I still think the DG's plan to invest in local services and new ways of delivering them is intelligent. If I'm sad about anything it's losing contact with English Regions broadcasting which, I think, is very interesting.
So this week I wave goodbye to my team in the BBC English Regions - those hardy souls in the far reaches of the empire who so selflessly make trailers for BBC services beyond the M25. It has been an exciting if uncertain year. See some of their work
On Monday I start my new role project managing with BBC Broadcast Operational Development (not BBC BOG as someone miss-heard). This is a six month attachment which will bring me into contact with some of the new technology developments.
By the end of July (possibly) I will move into the big wide commercial world of he Macquarie Capital Alliance Group
posted by Mark @ Tuesday, June 28, 2005
6 comments
6 Comments:
Mark,
I'll be really interested to see how you get on - I really hope I'm wrong about all this. I really hope the BBC goes from strength to strength and remains Britain's finest ever public service and export.
Right now, I'm not all that optimistic, as you can see, but I'm eager to read/hear your experiences under new management.
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Richard, there's quite a lot of personal stuff in there that I feel is not related to the bigger issues. Some of the points may not in fact be connected.
The BBC's effort to promote activities in the English Regions is most definitely an adjustment of priorities to address the public value question. There is much to be proud of that isn't based in London - the Voices project for example (understanding variations in English around the regions). For these things I still feel positive.
Behind the BBC's desire to place creative people away from the centre (London) is a desire to be more local and to recognise that Britain is made up of a zillion different and subtle flavors. I hope it is more than window dressing. In fact the team you refer to may become stronger and more important as time goes on.
How the changes are being managed is a question that stands on its own . I think all of us at the BBC have been thrown into a turmoil that is extremely difficult to organise. Clearly, we are all going to need to take great care that the decisions we take - corporate and personal - fully respect the people involved. In my experience I believe this is the case.
Please remove my blogs. Can you the email me please
Best of luck with your new work. But I have to say I'm rather opposed to the sale of BBC Broadcast. It effectively means that programmes produced by private companies will be transmitted by a private company. Yes, the BBC will commission but it won't actually do the broadcasting any more. Should we be renamed the British Corporation, d'you think?
Thanks BJ. Yes I think it is an odd situation to be in. What actually IS the BBC??? Perhaps it's more about content management than broadcasting. I notice Mark Thompson's note to staff a few moments ago commented on the reports on the London bombs made by members of the public. This, I think, is significant.
Mark
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