Tessa Jowell's speech to the Oxford Media Convention
BBC Charter Review
When I launched the Charter Review in December I said it would be driven by the views and questions of the British people, the shareholders in the BBC. The consultation is still in its early days but it is already clear that there is real appetite to engage in the debate.
We have already received nearly 500 considered responses (not just quick hits), the overwhelming majority from individual members of the public. Not surprisingly, they reflect a huge range of views about the BBC and its activities.
From "don't you dare change a thing" to "it's time the BBC was privatised." Commenting on almost every aspect of the BBC, from funding to the world service to home makeover programmes. The responses are informed and intelligent, proving again how wrong some politicians are to patronise the British public.
The consultation process is a genuine one. We have no pre-conceived view for where we want to end up despite feverish speculation to the contrary by journalists with space to fill.
I have accepted a number of invitations to speak on CR issues, and acceptance of an invitation does not imply acceptance of the views of the host.
IPPR have produced their own contribution to the debate, which I very much welcome, just as I welcome all serious contributions.
The Government is not going to comment on specific ideas at this stage. But I will say that the issues IPPR and others raise - about the role and scope of the BBC, about governance, the licence fee and on how we measure the quality of what is provided – are all legitimate areas for discussion.
Questions about funding and governance of the BBC seem to attract the most press interest. And it's extraordinary that some people are surprised that we see Charter Review as the opportunity to review the licence fee and the role of the Governors – every Charter Review has addressed these questions.
Impact on the market unsurprisingly seems to dominate the views of the BBC's competitors.
But it seems to me that the most fundamental questions we have to ask are:
· What do people want and expect a strong, independent BBC to deliver in the digital age?
· What role should it play in people's lives and in the life of the nation?
This role cannot be considered in isolation.
We have strong commercial broadcasters, some with, some without PSB obligations. We have a vociferous and opinionated press. We have an unregulated and diverse internet world.
In framing the Communications Act we saw the scope for media deregulation as being greater because of the role and scale of the BBC. And the Comms Act and Charter Review fit together, they are not discreet policy areas.
So the notion of the BBC as a fixed and significant point in the landscape is an important one.
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I have spoken before about the importance of the BBC, and public service broadcasting more generally, in providing high quality drama, comedy and general entertainment. I have spoken about the rich archive of quality drama and documentary which has been built up over the years and which I think could be exploited more, and more creatively, than at present.
But PSBs in general, and the BBC in particular, have broader social purposes too.
People trust and depend on them for the news and information which help them to understand and orient themselves in the world they live in. They help to affirm and strengthen our sense of identity – national, local and cultural. They provide important educational services to schools, children and adults.
They enrich the quality of our lives, through supporting a huge breadth of artistic and cultural activities and bringing them to new audiences. They also have a vital role to play in supporting the wider creative industries, including the independent production sector.
And in that context I am delighted that protracted negotiations have been concluded and that OFCOM have now approved the broadcasters' new codes of practice for dealing with independent producers.
The independent sector is a vital part of the health and strength of our creative industries and I expect both Ofcom's PSTV review and the Charter review to take that into account in coming to their conclusions.
Government also had no problem in inserting "film" into the clause that defined the purposes and extent of PSB. The British film industry is healthy, as this week's figures on inward investment show. But we still ought to ask whether domestic British films get distributed or aired widely enough, and how we could do even better than last year.
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But important though the cultural impact of PSB is, perhaps the most vital role the PSBs fulfil is their part in enfranchising and involving people in the democratic process.
Part of the point of OFCOM's review is to try and clarify what it is that people get out of PSB in general, and how this should develop in the future.
Their work will be a vital contribution to Charter Review. But the BBC has had a special and privileged position at the heart of public service broadcasting in the UK. People turn to it in times of national crisis and of national celebration.
It is indeed a "trusted guide" in our national life.
It is independent from Government but has a unique relationship with the public, who pick up the bill for it. All of the PSBs have important obligations to the public but we are all, in effect, shareholders in the BBC.
So this Charter Review needs to look in the broadest sense at what the BBC should be expected to deliver for the public and for the nation as a whole: not just in terms of what we see and hear on our screens and through our radios, but also in terms of the wider social and democratic function it fulfils.
And, of course, we also need to consider the way in which the BBC accounts to its "shareholders" for what it does and takes account of their views and interests.
I have already made clear that I want this to be the most open public debate ever about BBC.
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There have been some criticisms of our commitment to thorough public consultation, but I insist that the days when an intellectual elite could decide in private how TV and radio should be delivered to everybody else are long gone.
There is no longer the social deference which made that possible, and the explosion of choice across all services means that the BBC has to have clear public support for its activities if it is to have public legitimacy.
With over £2bn taken each year in what is after all a hypothecated tax there is no other way.
So the consultation will be thorough, and I welcome Greg's understanding of its importance.
We have already sent out 2000 copies of our consultation document and set up a dedicated website which, by 8 January, had received nearly 7,000 unique visitors.
We are distributing 400,000 leaflets to libraries across the country. And today I'm delighted to announce the publication of a version specifically for children and young people.
Children's programming has changed beyond recognition since the days of Muffin the Mule, The Wooden Tops and Listen with Mother. And its audience has changed with it.
Broadcasters are more eager than ever to attract young viewers. This is reflected in the wealth of channels and services aimed at them.
The BBC has been at the vanguard of extending choice, with dedicated channels such as CBBC, Cbeebies and BBC3, not to mention that now old stalwart Radio One and also BBCi.
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This proliferation of channels empowers children and young people as consumers as never before. They have greater influence than ever before.
We will also be involving young people in a series of public meetings that we're going to undertake around the country over the next few months.
I'm delighted that we are working with the RTS to organise industry forums throughout the UK.
And we will be undertaking a programme of more deliberative research to ensure we gain a rounded picture of the public's views.
There's a lot going on. Many of you will be directly involved with the work of the many reviews that this year will look at aspects of the BBC and PSB.
All this work will inform the Green Paper which we hope to publish around the turn of this year.
Digital switchover
It is impossible to conclude all these debates without linking them all to our intention to achieve digital switchover.
The BBC of course has a vital role to play in this. Our consultation document asks the key questions and the Green Paper will take this fully into account.
We have now reached the point where BARB's figures indicate that over 50% of households have digital television. This means that those without digital are now a minority.
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The continuing success of digital TV confirms that switching over is the right decision for the country.
There is, however, another side to the argument that we need to take seriously. I'm aware that the Generics Group report published by DTI last week states that 13% of people still say they don't want digital television and don't intend to get it, come what may.
The Government has always made clear that, in planning switchover, the interests of consumers must be looked after. That means that digital TV must be accessible and affordable to the vast majority. And there is still a clear challenge of persuasion if we are to begin to erode that 13% hardcore of refuseniks.
But the digital revolution now has its own momentum.
I receive a constant stream of letters from people in areas where DTT is not currently available, frustrated that they cannot get Freeview. Some 20-25% of the population will not be able to receive digital terrestrial until after switchover.
We must look after their interests too.
The Generics Report showed that more people would be willing to take up digital TV if given the right information and if switching were made easy and cost-effective.
The Go Digital results in 2002 showed that, in general, when people get digital TV they like it and want to keep it.
Content is therefore a key factor - obviously. Ensuring a good range of high quality programming is essential if we are to broaden demand for digital.
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So there are challenges for all of us here – Government, industry, consumer groups - as we move ahead in partnership to develop the detailed blueprint for switchover.
There is a strong demand for the great increase in choice, which digital TV brings.
But it also brings with it the potential for viewers to use television in a wholly different way. The range of interactive services available will steadily increase as technology develops and converges.
So switchover has a wider social dimension too. It is important that, as technology moves on and more services become available, we do not exclude people from accessing them.
We are not wedded to any single technology, but we do need to make sure that in our plans for switchover we do everything we can to make the advantages of digital available to as many people as possible.
Otherwise, far from bringing communities closer together, the advance of communication technologies will create or reinforce divisions in society.
This links back to questions I was raising about the social purposes of PSB.
All of the PSBs have a crucial role to play in bringing switchover about: none more so than the BBC, and Charter Review will need to reflect that.
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Digital Inclusion
Of course, Radio and TV are probably the most inclusive technologies in the country. They bring knowledge, entertainment and information to us all. But we created OFCOM because we know that the regulatory and social issues of the future go beyond these two venerable media.
For the first time we have seen the amount of televison kids watch fall.
Not sadly because they are out emulating Jonny Wilkinson but because they are playing computer games, they are on the internet, or they are emailing, texting or instant messaging each other.
This is big news for advertisers and programme makers – a new idol competing with the one eyed god.
Just as we have gone past 50% of households with DTV we have gone past 50% with internet access at home.
We think the market will get us a lot further with DTV. But access to a network is much more complex than turning on a TV (as anyone who struggled on Boxing day with the Xmas computer or iPod or camera phone will know).
Within the next charter period the future will be just as much about broadband, the internet, txt, instant messaging, chat as about conventional TV and radio.
So we need better to understand how people will access digital networks in the future, what technology they will use and what they will be doing with it.
We need to bring the work Patricia Hewitt has announced on digital inclusion alongside the work of the digital switchover team on bringing DTV to everyone.
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The two will inform each other and show the path to a digitally United Kingdom, connecting every citizen to a two way digital network so that everyone can send as well as receive.
Today I can announce that work between industry and government on this important issue has moved to a more formal stage. An industry working group has been formed to work with officials from Cabinet Office, DTI, DfES and DCMS to produce a report advised by an industry and voluntary sector panel of wise women and men. We shall publish the names of the panel shortly.
The report will identify those who might be digitally excluded and how we should expect or plan for these people to access digital networks.
Media Literacy
With so many ways to get information – not just through tv and radio but also internet and mobile phone – it becomes increasingly hard to know where what we see or hear is coming from, who has made it and why.
We need to make sure that people are equipped to understand and interpret this mass of communication: to differentiate between opinion and fact; to make sense of what they see and hear; and to challenge and question it.
The role of psbs as trusted, reliable sources of information at the heart of this digital world is as vitally important as ever. More widely, people still turn to TV as their most trusted source of balanced, fair and accurate news.
We will always need a core of accurate and impartial news services from our licensed broadcasters.
And it is important that we know when we are watching "accurate and impartial" news coverage and when we are not.
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But the importance of media literacy goes beyond news. People need to be able to make informed decisions about what they do and do not consume. We need to make sure people are able to take full advantage of the increased opportunities and choices available. But we also (and this is an issue of increasing concern) need to make sure people are equipped to protect themselves and their families from material which they would find harmful or distasteful.
This is why we have given OFCOM a specific duty to promote media literacy. This is a hugely important agenda for the future – and I don't think we have yet fully grappled with its importance - if we are going to be a nation of active and informed consumers, able to take advantage of the opportunities, which the digital communications offer. If people can take greater personal responsibility for what they watch and listen to that will itself lessen the need for regulatory intervention. It will also help them navigate safely through the parts of the electronic media where the writ of regulation will not run.
But Ofcom cannot do this alone – all parts of our communications industries need to play their part. I strongly welcome the initiative which the Film Council, working with Channel 4 and the British Film Institute, have taken in organising a major industry seminar on this later in January.
I very much look forward to participating in that event, which I hope will lay the foundations for a strategy on which Ofcom and others can work together for the future.
So that's how I see the landscape in early 2004, post-Communications Act and as we gear up to the PSB review, Charter Review and digital switchover. None of us should underestimate the importance of this part of the public realm to private lives. If we can engage people in this debate the future will be better – for the public, for the industry and for an engaged democracy.
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