There was a short debate in the House of Lords this afternoon on BBC Charter renewal. Allotted one hour, this meant that each speaker was limited to one minute. In the event the debate ended after 45 minutes with a good deal of frustration about process.
I wished to make three essential points for consideration, but, having agreed with points made strongly by previous speakers, limited myself to one.
There was strong support for (a) the independence of the BBC from government or political interference – an independence that must be guaranteed by establishing renewed governance that does not allow for a majority of board members to be appointed by government, (b) proper funding of the BBC by the licence fee, (c) transparency in the BBC's decision making – therefore, no deals between a pressurised Director General and the Chancellor over licence fee or who pays for pensioners, and (d) continuation of the public service remit.
I simply made a point no one else was going to make. It wasn't a matter of special pleading – were I an atheist, I would make the same point.
The BBC has three Reithian 'purposes': inform, entertain, educate. I proposed a fourth: interpret. The world needs to be interpreted, not just reported. And to do this effectively, the lens of those being reported to needs to be looked through and understood. This means that religion needs to be taken more seriously by the BBC in its future shape and remit. Religion is a primary motivator of individuals and communities, inspiring and informing their political, economic, ethical and social behaviour (probably also their emotional engagement with what is going on in the world and in them).
The BBC, therefore, needs more religion, not less. Ofcom expressed concern about just this in July 2015.
(I chair the Sandford St Martin Trust and, along with others, remain concerned about this.)
March 10, 2016 at 3:52 pm
The BBC needs to be seen as independent but accountable. At the moment, transparency is a bit opaque and so, they stand condemned by diverse commentators of bias or displaying left wing tendencies.
The ‘Lovie’ culture of the BBC needs to be overcome. And the point that you made has real relevance. Many years ago, I had huge respect for BBC News Programs such as Panarama, but nowadays, it’s not on, and when it is on, doesn’t have the gravitas that it once had.
BBC Question Time is another program, which used to be watchable, but again, it’s now a forum for voices of people who I either disagree with whole heartedly, or whose views are obnoxious. It needs to have a voice of religious experience, from whatever faith or denomination is appropriate, but a world view that isn’t purely secular is essential, to demonstrate that ‘lived’ faith involves principles, ethics and integrity and compassion – all to often it’s portrayed as authoritarian, out of touch or irrelevant.
March 10, 2016 at 4:47 pm
Hurrah – nation speaking peace to nation was the original ‘interpretative’ role of the BBC. That +Nick should reflect that in his Lords’ minispeech was a vital reminder that objective interpretation can enlighten many a confused argument.
March 10, 2016 at 8:19 pm
Reblogged this on hungarywolf.
March 11, 2016 at 1:54 pm
[…] On the 10th March 2016 the Bishop of Leeds, Rt Revd Nick Baines, spoke in a short debate on the BBC Charter Review. He expanded on these remarks in a subsequent blog post. […]
March 11, 2016 at 6:51 pm
Yes, it was noted in some report in connection with education a couple of years ago that faith is indeed vitally significant for at least 5 billion people across the world, and so if we and our children are to be truly global citizens we need to have the necessary tools to enable all to understand and respond to questions of faith.’ You can’t understand the contemporary world without understanding what motivates 75% of the world’s population’. This means being able to think theologically, explore ultimate questions and develop skilled to analyse , interpret and make well informed responses.
The BBC does this so well in other fields, so to develop in this one would indeed be an excellent way forward.