euro news2708_news 29/08/2015 09:09 Page 2
BBC’s Fairhead: ‘Let public
decide our future’
ona Fairhead, chair of the
BBC Trust, has warned
that the future of the
Corporation under the formal
Charter review debate needs to be
driven by evidence and fact, not
‘by prejudice and not by vested
interest’, with the public having
the right to play a central role in
deciding its future of its BBC,
independent scrutiny and
regulation, carried out by a
separate body representing
licence fee payers, not by
politicians.
Contributing an essay to The BBC
Today: Future Uncertain, Fairhead said
the over-arching question for that debate
is: “What is the right BBC for the next
generation? And from that came a range of
other questions. Suggesting that the review
process is “still in the foothills”, she set out the
thoughts of the Trust on these questions,
which she says are largely rooted in what the
public has told it over the past eight-and-ahalf years. “Despite the incessant noise around
it, the future of the BBC needs to be driven by
evidence and fact, not by prejudice and not by
vested interest.”
Assessing a number of funding and
governance options, Fairhead said it was
essential that there was now an open and
R
both the BBC’s financial and
its editorial independence,
for the two are entwined.
Research carried out for the
Trust shows clearly that the
public see a need for
independent scrutiny and
regulation, but they want
this done by a separate body
representing licence fee
payers, not by politicians.”
She said the Trust’s view
was that the BBC needed to
be run by a stronger unitary
executive board with an
independent chairman and a
majority of non-executive
directors. It would have sole
responsibility for running the
BBC and its strategy and corporate governance.
The BBC’s services would be scrutinised by an
external regulator, taking over the Trust’s
responsibilities for quality control and
accountability.
On July 16, the UK Government issued a
Consultation ‘Green Paper’ which set out the
topics for debate as part of the process to review
the BBC’s Royal Charter. The consultation will
last until 8 October 2015. The Government will
then bring forward proposals based on this
consultation in the Spring of 2016.
“It might ultimately mean presenting
the public with pick-and-mix options
honest discussion with licence fee payers
about what sort of BBC they want for their
money, given that the financial framework has
been set. “We have already started that
conversation but it might ultimately mean
presenting the public with pick-and-mix
options to establish their priorities,” she
admitted.
“The Trust is determined this Charter
Review should establish that future changes to
BBC funding should require public
consultation and some form of parliamentary
scrutiny. This will help protect
Industry Trust
relaunches
findanyfilm.com
UK copyright and creativity
consumer education body
The Industry Trust for IP
Awareness has relaunched
legal online entertainment
resource FindAnyFilm.com
following a major upgrade
to the site.
The improvements to
FindanyFilm.com
complement existing
elements such as the
comprehensive cinema listing
service, the book and buy
tools, all of which are widely
used by the industry.
According to Liz Bales,
CEO, The Industry Trust,
8 EUROMEDIA
FindanyFilm.com users are
well known to be film and TV
aficionados. “They spend 50
per cent more time watching
filmed content than average
consumers and are more
likely to be early adopters of
new technology, which is
why upgrading
FindanyFilm.com and
constantly adding new
supplier feeds is vital to
accelerating the growth of
the site and delivering a user
experience that exceeds
expectations, ensuring that
existing users return, and
providing an attractive and
intuitive platform to new
users.”
The UK's Intellectual
Property Office published
findings in July 2015 which
showed that while British and
Australian users consumed
online media at similar rates,
illegal downloading for UK
consumers was half the rate
of their Australian
counterparts, with UK
respondents saying they
would be encouraged to stop
infringing if there were
cheaper legal services (25%)
and if everything was
available legally (21%).