Whither the BBC facing a six-y...

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In the second Radio Free Press podcast, the round table discusses the troubled future of the BBC as it struggles to come to terms with a 16% reduction in its income and a raft of new commitments.

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Defenders of public service broadcasting have been shocked and saddened by the ease with which the coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats managed to rail road the BBC into accepting draconian cuts in its income.

How was it, they asked, that a great British institution, respected around the world for its independence, could get so comprehensively ambushed by the government of the day?  Why did the management roll over and accept a crippling six-year freeze of the annual licence fee and costly new commitments without proper financial compensation?

The second Radio Free Press podcast explored these issues in a discussion hosted by the former BBC political correspondent Nicholas Jones.  He was joined by Ivan Lewis, the Labour front bencher who is now the shadow secretary of state for culture, by Tony Lennon, the former President of the broadcasting union Bectu, and Laura Davison, acting broadcasting organiser for the National Union of Journalists.

Their task was first to assess the momentous events in October 2010 when the BBC suddenly found itself caught up in the last-minute bargaining over the cuts being made as part of Budget deficit reduction package introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. Then they looked ahead to the future strategies which the Opposition, trade unions and journalists thought should be adopted to protect the BBC’s financial and editorial independence.

The podcast was produced by Claire Colley

Music composed by Tony Swettenham

Radio Free Press is a campaigning service, aimed at informing people who are concerned to preserve independent, diverse and accountable media in the UK. Please pass the link to the podcast on to colleagues, friends and fellow campaigners.

DATELINE: 23 June, 2011

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