Roger Mosey, a former Editorial Director of the BBC, Head of TV News, and Director of Sport, discusses his lecture to the Commonwealth Journalists Association on the challenges facing public service media, the mainstream media's lack of understanding of political landscapes in the UK and US, clickbait, interactivity and audience connections, as well as cuts and talent drain at the BBC.

"The BBC’s Charter says it must engage the public to a very high standard with the issues of the day and inform our democracy. And that's non-negotiable. It's got to do it, and it does many times do that. It doesn't do it enough, and I think its political coverage is particularly weak. Why? Because the Westminster bubble dominates the political coverage, and there's too much about who's up, who's down, and there's too much about short-term headlines."

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@BeebRoger

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Professor Catherine Johnson from the University of Leeds discusses her role on the recently announced DCMS committee, which is examining the future of TV distribution. New research indicates that some viewers could be excluded from the general shift towards online viewership. We also explore the rise of YouTube, ways to ensure access to public service content, and how a household tax might work.

“There is a ticking time bomb here, to be honest, in relation to digital terrestrial. So most other countries have upgraded their digital terrestrial infrastructure, or committed to upgrading their digital terrestrial infrastructure.”

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@BeebRoger

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email: roger@rogerboltonsbeebwatch.com

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Steven Barnett, Professor of Communications at the University of Westminster, discusses BBC Chair Samir Shah's inaugural speech. We explore what devolving, democratising, and depoliticising means, loosening regulation, re-evaluating the roles and remits of other public service broadcasters, and alternative funding models.

“I'm not sure a permanent charter is the way to go, but I think some kind of independent body to whom the responsibility is devolved for making funding decisions and for appointing the BBC chair, I would incidentally add the Ofcom chair, which is accountable to Parliament but is out of the control of government. I think those are really important changes that are necessary.”

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@BeebRoger

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LinkedIn: Roger Bolton's Beeb Watch

email: roger@rogerboltonsbeebwatch.com

www.goodeggproductions.uk

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Jamie Angus is the former director of the BBC World Service and the former editor of 'Today' and 'Newsnight' who now works in the Middle East. We discuss what the budget announcement means for funding of the World Service, why HardTalk makes the world 'a less stupid place', original journalism, the unintended consequences of commercialisation and US election and Middle East coverage.

"The BBC is not protecting its essential news services enough when it comes to allocating the cuts. The case for the BBC’s existence relies on its utterly distinctive public service remit.”

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@BeebRoger

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LinkedIn: Roger Bolton's Beeb Watch

email: roger@rogerboltonsbeebwatch.com

www.goodeggproductions.uk

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Richard Sambrook, former Director of BBC News and the World Service, and now an Emeritus Professor of journalism at Cardiff University discusses the challenges the BBC faces in dealing with the rise of disinformation, the balance between free speech and responsibility, the BBC's 'follow the sun' strategy, World Service funding and the impact of budget cuts on BBC News.

"I do have the concern that what sometimes gets lost in the mix is the depth and significance of BBC journalism, as opposed to simply competing with what everyone else is doing. I'm sure if I were to talk to Deborah Turness or anyone else, they would come up with a whole list of examples that would illustrate how they are maintaining depth and significance. But I think, to the public, when they look at some of these cuts, that’s what worries people."

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@BeebRoger

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LinkedIn: Roger Bolton's Beeb Watch

email: roger@rogerboltonsbeebwatch.com

www.goodeggproductions.uk

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In the same week that BBC Director General Tim Davie pitched for an increase in government funding for the BBC World Service, while simultaneously axing the global interview programme Hard Talk in another round of cuts, we speak with Gareth Benest, Director of Advocacy at the International Broadcasting Trust. We discuss the decline in international coverage by UK broadcasters, his analysis of the shrinking breadth of countries featured in news and current affairs programming, and the potential impact of new media legislation, algorithms, and public service broadcasting.

“Last year, it surprised me that there was, as far as I could see from the logging that I did of linear schedules, there was not a single programme outside of news broadcasts about Rwanda. The most spoken about African country, perhaps in the history of UK media, last year, there wasn't a single documentary. There wasn't a single current affairs programme that actually gave UK citizens an opportunity to understand the country.”

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@BeebRoger

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LinkedIn: Roger Bolton's Beeb Watch

email: roger@rogerboltonsbeebwatch.com

www.goodeggproductions.uk

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On our 100th episode anniversary we talk to another journalist who has started out on a new venture. The Guardian’s former media editor, Jim Waterson, has set up London Centric, a news outlet focused on in-depth coverage of London. We discuss his reasons for taking this step, the challenges traditional media faces, billionaires owning media outlets, the sale of The Observer, regulation, adapting to modern consumption habits and the merging of public service broadcasters.

“I'm sure, Beeb Watch listeners are very aware of Project Kangaroo and the missed opportunities of the late 2000s when there was a plan to combine all the public service broadcasters in one streamer that would have gazumped Netflix. I think that's the sort of radical thinking you should be looking at with this licence fee negotiation.”

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@BeebRoger

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LinkedIn: Roger Bolton's Beeb Watch

email: roger@rogerboltonsbeebwatch.com

www.goodeggproductions.uk

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Mark Urban spent many years as the diplomatic and defence editor at BBC Newsnight before leaving in May, after 34 years at the corporation. Prior to joining the BBC, Mark was the defence correspondent for The Independent newspaper for four years. He is the author of several military books and served briefly in the British Army. He is now a writer for The Sunday Times. We discuss allegations of BBC bias against Israel in its Middle East coverage, the challenges and cultural biases in reporting conflicts, changes made to Newsnight, and his life after the BBC.

“If you put those two things together, which is a tight focus on victims and a scepticism about the ethicacy of the military instrument, then it's pretty obvious in this current situation that Israel is going to have problems. And I think this is more to do with the way that journalists as a sort of cohort or professional culture define a story, and less to do actually, specifically with the BBC.”

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@BeebRoger

Instagram: rogerboltonsbeebwatch

LinkedIn: Roger Bolton's Beeb Watch

email: roger@rogerboltonsbeebwatch.com

www.goodeggproductions.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.