Broadcasters Attacked For Political Dependency

Greg Dyke, speaking at the Edinburgh Television Festival, said that broadcasting organisations are too dependent on the government; and their ability to call politicians to account is being dangerously eroded.

Dyke said he had two main concerns; the first was that in commercial broadcasting the balance of being both a business and a broadcaster was in danger of being too dominated by business. Secondly he feared the relationship between broadcasters and government was becoming a dependent one, with broadcasters “constantly wanting favours and legislative action from government – a position which is largely of government’s making, and as a result gives government far too much power in the relationship.”

He recommended that a future Labour government should set up a commission to look at broadcasting.

Possible reforms included new ways of appointing the chairman and governors of the BBC and the ITC.

Other speakers at the Television Festival to criticise the current set-up included Michael Grade. He called for the government to abolish both the Broadcasting Standards Council and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission, and let the ITC alone rule on programming standards.

David Mellor criticised Margaret Thatcher for allowing Rupert Murdoch to acquire such a dominant position in the British television and newspaper market. Mellor supported Grade’s calls for a single regulatory body, but opposed plans for the ITC to oversee BBC complaints.

Colin Shaw, director of the BSC, said he was opposed to a single regulator and that while the BBC was still funded by a licence fee it should not be placed under a commercial regulator.