APPENDIX 19
Memorandum submitted by Mrs Joan Darwent
COMMUNICATIONS
Of the matters which the Committee proposes
to examine, I wish to address the media market, access to high
quality diverse services and the defining and provision of public
service broadcasting, with the BBC particularly in mind.
I believe that only the BBC, funded by a license
fee and fully independent, can guarantee high quality and diverse
public service broadcasting because commercial broadcasters must
tailor their output in order to bring in the number and type of
viewers and listeners required by the advertisers who supply their
funding. Consequently, their programmes must appeal to the great
majority of the public and this excludes programmes of an intellectual
nature or cultural nature which are more demanding and require
a longer attention span than the majority is willing to give.
This, of course, has serious implications for the cultural and
political life of the nation, for an ill-informed public can be
easily manipulated by commercial or political interests.
It is reported that the Culture Secretary, Tessa
Jowell, has hinted that the BBC may be fined if it fails to meet
standards of taste and quality. This seems to me to be ill-thought
out. It implies that the BBC has to maintain different standards
from commercial broadcasters. Yet, at the same time, there are
demands that it shall be subject to the same regulator as commercial
broadcasters.
The BBC cannot be judged by the same criteria
as the commercial sector if it is to meet the demands of high
quality and diverse programming. Such programming is, by definition,
more expensive to make than popular entertainment. Nor can the
BBC be judged by the ratings it secures compared to commercial
broadcasters. By definition also, such programming will never
attract a mass audience.
I believe—and wrote nearly ten years ago—that
it was wrong to oblige the BBC to enter the commercial field,
but it cannot now withdraw. It was bound to cause conflict with
the commercial sector, leading to attacks on the Corporation intended
fatally to wound it—and I believe also that was the intention
at the time. But its commercial activities are a source of continual
danger for the Corporation because they lay it open to the charge
of unfair competition and create a minefield which must be safely
negotiated in order to protect its unique public service status.
I believe it to be essential that the BBC's
most demanding programmes must be available on Channels other
than a specially dedicated cultural one. This is vital if they
are to be seen by viewers who would not normally seek them out.
The demands made concurrently on the BBC—that
it maintain high standards in programming, which will never be
provided by a commercial broadcaster, and that it shall achieve
ratings which compare favourably with the commercial sector—are
incompatible. The BBC should continue to occupy its traditional
position as an independent public service broadcaster funded by
a license fee. Only thus will the public have access to programmes
of the highest standard across the whole spectrum of entertainment,
culture and information. Unless this happens there is no doubt
that broadcasting as a whole—the multiplicity of channels
notwithstanding—will rapidly descend to the lowest common
denominator.
2 January 2002
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