Examination of Witnesses (Questions 1360
- 1361)
WEDNESDAY 9 JANUARY 2008
Ms Jocelyn Hay, Professor Ivor Gaber and Mr John
Clark
Q1360 Bishop of Manchester:
Can I ask the very last question because I realise our minutes
output is running out too, and that is on Channel 4. A lot of
people have a high regard for Channel 4 News and of course
it has extended in recent times. How secure do you feel that is
and in what way would you want to have put in place something
that might protect that in the future as an important part of
public service broadcasting.
Professor Gaber: The first thing is we would
like to go on record as being full of praise for Channel 4 for
maintaining that programme at peak, when its audiences are not
huge, and at the quality it is. It is an example of what we have
been talking about. However, there is a risk; we have seen with
a lot of Channel 4's programming its shift over the last few years
into reality, its moving serious stuff to More 4, and it is under
commercial pressures, as is any other channel. The difference
with Channel 4 is, of course, that it is government-owned; there
is a political issue there and if push comes to shove we would
want the only shareholder to insist that it kept its news in peak
and maintained the fantastic tradition that Channel 4 News has
set.
Ms Hay: You mentioned the question of training
and we do think that it is important for the BBC to continue its
role in training.
Q1361 Chairman:
Thank you very much. I am sorry to have cut it short, but we are
over time now. Thank you very, very much, it has been a very interesting
session with some very interesting ideas, and perhaps if we have
got any other points we could write to you. Jocelyn Hay and your
colleagues, thank you very much for coming today.
Ms Hay: Thank you for inviting us.
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