UK Media Committee Wants Independent BBC Oversight

[Khephra]

LONDON (Reuters) - The House of Commons media select committee wants to set up an independent board to oversee the BBC, a proposal that would end decades of self-governance at the publicly-funded broadcaster.

The committee recommended that the government split the current responsibilities of the BBC board of governors in two, creating a management board made up of BBC executives and non-executive directors, and an independent board of governors responsible for regulating the BBC and maintaining its independence.

"The present system of BBC governance and regulation has failed," the committee said in a wide-ranging report published Thursday, citing the board of governors' "unresolved conflict between its role as the BBC's advocate and its regulator."

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=televisionNews&storyID=7119667

[wurzel]

1. The BBC is Untouchable. This "media commitee" is dreaming.

[Griffy]

2. WE ahve GOT to get our media under control... or it will spread! nt

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Brit DUers, what effect would this have? nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Difficult to say

I think you have to be in the industry to really know how much the board of governors currently controls the direction and output of the BBC. Usually, the director general and his management team are the ones we hear about making the decisions; but there may be some behind-the-scenes discussions which shapes all of them.

The board of governors has regional representatives on it (always at least one each from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) which may be the 'tokenism' some reports say has been criticised; or that may be the fact that there are a couple of non-white governors. This diversity in governors seems a good idea to me.

[bin.dare]

5. this has to be put in the context of summer 03 ...

with the fight between Blair and the BBC and the subsequent death of David Kelly. Thompson was appointed around Dec 03 and is in the process of down-sizing the BBC. The news staff is greatly affected and pissed off by this. The cut-backs are actually bigger than seem because the BBC has also been given new mandates.

This is an out and out effort to de-fang the BBC as an independent group particularly as a news group. To understand what is happening, just remind yourself that Tony Blair is Maggie Thatcher's child; spiritually and politically. She was one of the first people he called when he was (first) elected, and she has said of him that her greatest legacy is Tony Blair and New Labour.