Written evidence from E. Geraldine Timlin
MA
I am a teacher of English and literacy in an inner
London college of further education, with students from war zones
and countries where political oppression robs people of their
basic human rights - especially freedom of speech. The economic
and humanitarian case for World Service Drama's continued existence
is overwhelming. The BBC World Service Drama provides a voice
for those who need to believe there is hope of change and that
there are others who share their situation. Much is made of the
term "globalization" but rather than emphasizing the
global community, it is linked with marketplace economics, filtered
through multinational channels with profit as its aim.
I submit that:
- axing BBC World Service Drama will destroy the
opportunity to share in the international literary landscape;
- the loss will create a major gap between those
literary works deemed suitable for Radio 3 or Radio 4's target
audience and those deemed for an international audience only (e.g.
productions labelled "world-centric");
- cultural diversity is poorly represented in mainstream
radio drama;
- drama provides the possibility to express ideas
that are politically subversive, that may be socially taboo, and
enable communication between different life experiences and realities;
- the BBC World Service Drama is an iconic world
heritage;
- there is no viable substitute for the BBC World
Service Drama if it is axed;
- as a displaced person myself, and a traveller
to many countries, the BBC World Service Drama has always been
my link to a sense of a global family; and
- I implore all concerned not to axe this service
and passionately concur that the "BBC World Service Drama
has such an international strategic role in the advancement of
the literary work from more culturally diversified experiences
that its existence should be ensured and ring fenced by the British
Government".
11 February 2011
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