BBC: Centre for Policy Studies - Revision history

Tom Mills at 15:34, 5 February 2010

2010-02-05T15:34:13Z

Tom Mills at 16:22, 23 January 2010

2010-01-23T16:22:53Z

Tom Mills at 15:35, 14 January 2010

2010-01-14T15:35:30Z

Tom Mills at 14:48, 14 January 2010

2010-01-14T14:48:27Z

Tom Mills: /* The Thatcher Years */

2010-01-14T13:11:25Z

The Thatcher Years

Tom Mills: brian griffiths

2010-01-14T13:08:19Z

brian griffiths

Tom Mills: /* Allegations of BBC Political Bias */

2009-12-18T15:26:35Z

Allegations of BBC Political Bias

Tom Mills: /* Allegations of BBC Political Bias */ typo

2009-12-18T15:16:36Z

Allegations of BBC Political Bias: typo

Tom Mills: /* Relevant Publications */ typo

2009-11-27T16:43:59Z

Relevant Publications: typo

Tom Mills: /* Allegations of BBC Political Bias */

2009-11-27T16:19:42Z

Allegations of BBC Political Bias

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 [[Damian Green|Green's]] report attempted to develop a middle ground between the push for the BBC's privitisation coming from the neoliberals, and the support for quality national broadcasting amongst more traditionally minded Conservatives. The report is was somewhat unusual in that Green conceded that 'there is little evidence that the public is opposed to the concept of public service broadcasting... or that there is a wave of feeling that the BBC fails to help realise that concept.' <ref>Damian Green, ‘[http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/CPS_assets/497_ProductPreviewFile.pdf A Better BBC: public service broadcasting in the 1990s]’, 10 November 1991; p.9</ref> Neither was he supportive of the common assertion that the BBC had a systematic left-wing bias. The report was more typical in its criticism of the BBC as wasteful and inefficient. Its main argument in favour of reform though was that changes to the 'broadcasting landscape' meaning an increase in the number of channels, would necessarily make the BBC's exclusive right to the licence fee revenues 'indefenisible'. <ref>Damian Green, ‘[http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/CPS_assets/497_ProductPreviewFile.pdf A Better BBC: public service broadcasting in the 1990s]’, 10 November 1991; p.9</ref>
-Green rejected advertising and subscription as alternative sources of funding. Instead he argued that the licence fee should remain, but that its revenues should be distributed by a new 'Public Service Broadcasting Authority' which would then commission public service broadcasting, initially overwhelmingly from the BBC, but also to private producers and Cable TV companies. <ref>Damian Green, ‘[http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/CPS_assets/497_ProductPreviewFile.pdf A Better BBC: public service broadcasting in the 1990s]’, 10 November 1991; p.36</ref> This, Green argued, would encourage competition and efficiency in the BBC and would guarantee that public service broadcasting was not undermined. The inevitable loss in revenue would then be met by the BBC 'marketing the range of BBC programmes' international, and from entering into joint productions and sponsorship deals. <ref>Damian Green, ‘[http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/CPS_assets/497_ProductPreviewFile.pdf A Better BBC: public service broadcasting in the 1990s]’, 10 November 1991; pp.36-37</ref> 'If,' Green wrote, 'it eventually transpired that all the functions at present served by the BBC could indeed be provided by the  market (with assistance from the PSBA), then the BBC could wither away, or be transformed into a much smaller and more concentrated broadcasting organisation.' <ref>Damian Green, ‘[http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/CPS_assets/497_ProductPreviewFile.pdf A Better BBC: public service broadcasting in the 1990s]’, 10 November 1991; pp.38</ref>
+Green rejected advertising and subscription as alternative sources of funding. Instead he argued that the licence fee should remain, but that its revenues should be distributed by a new 'Public Service Broadcasting Authority' which would then commission public service broadcasting, initially overwhelmingly from the BBC, but also to private producers and Cable TV companies. <ref>Damian Green, ‘[http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/CPS_assets/497_ProductPreviewFile.pdf A Better BBC: public service broadcasting in the 1990s]’, 10 November 1991; p.36</ref> This, Green argued, would encourage competition and efficiency in the BBC and would guarantee that public service broadcasting was not undermined. The inevitable loss in revenue would then be met by the BBC 'marketing the range of BBC programmes' international, and from entering into joint productions and sponsorship deals. <ref>Damian Green, ‘[http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/CPS_assets/497_ProductPreviewFile.pdf A Better BBC: public service broadcasting in the 1990s]’, 10 November 1991; pp.36-37</ref> 'If,' Green wrote, 'it eventually transpired that all the functions at present served by the BBC could indeed be provided by the  market (with assistance from the PSBA), then the BBC could wither away, or be transformed into a much smaller and more concentrated broadcasting organisation.' <ref>Damian Green, ‘[http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/CPS_assets/497_ProductPreviewFile.pdf A Better BBC: public service broadcasting in the 1990s]’, 10 November 1991; p.38</ref>
 ====''How to save the BBC''====

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 <CENTER>'''N.B. This page relates to the Centre for Policy Studies’s attacks on the [[BBC]]. <br>A [[Centre for Policy Studies|separate page]] deals with the Centre for Policy Studies in general.'''</CENTER>
 ----
 '''The Centre for Policy Studies''' is a right-wing neoliberal think-tank set up in 1974 by [[Margaret Thatcher]], [[Keith Joseph]] and [[Alfred Sherman]].  [[Keith Joseph|Joseph]], who was head of policy at the [[Conservative Party]] between 1975 and its successful election in 1979, was strongly influenced by the [[Institute of Economic Affairs]] and helped set up the CPS as a kind of politicised version of the IEA, with the aim of promulgating its ideals around the political establishment - in particular, around the [[Conservative Party]]. <ref>PBS, Command Heights, [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitextlo/int_ralphharris.html Interview with Lord Ralph Harris, 17 July 2000].</ref>

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 <CENTER>'''N.B. This page relates to the Centre for Policy Studies’s attacks on the [[BBC]]. <br>A [[Centre for Policy Studies|separate page]] deals with the Centre for Policy Studies in general.'''</CENTER>
 ----
 '''The Centre for Policy Studies''' is a right-wing neoliberal think-tank set up in 1974 by [[Margaret Thatcher]], [[Keith Joseph]] and [[Alfred Sherman]].  [[Keith Joseph|Joseph]], who was head of policy at the [[Conservative Party]] between 1975 and its successful election in 1979, was strongly influenced by the [[Institute of Economic Affairs]] and helped set up the CPS as a kind of politicised version of the IEA, with the aim of promulgating its ideals around the political establishment - in particular, around the [[Conservative Party]]. <ref>PBS, Command Heights, [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitextlo/int_ralphharris.html Interview with Lord Ralph Harris, 17 July 2000].</ref>

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 [[David Young|David Young's]] younger brother [[Stuart Young|Stuart]] was chairman of the [[BBC]] from 1983 until his death in 1986. He was originally seen as a provocative appointment by the [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher]] government, but is generally portrayed as having developed a close affinity with the [[BBC]]. In 1987 one of Young’s special advisors [[Howell James]] was appointed Director of Corporate Affairs for a [[BBC]], a position he held for five years. <ref>‘[http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U21757 JAMES, Howell Malcolm Plowden]’, Who's Who 2009, A & C Black, 2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2008 [Accessed 26 Nov 2009]</ref> [[Howell James|James]] had been introduced to Young by [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher’s]] PR guru [[Tim Bell]], who was also appointed as a PR consultant to the Corporation. <ref>Tom O'Malley, ''Closedown?: The BBC and Government Broadcasting Policy 1979-92'' (London: Pluto Press, 1994) p.158</ref>
-Another powerful Thatcher aide involved in broadcasting who later joined the [[Centre for Policy Studies]] was [[Brian Griffiths]]. [[Brian Griffiths|Griffiths]] was chairman of CPS from 1991 to 2000, <ref>Debrett's People of Today, [http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/search/results/3291/Brian%20Griffiths+GRIFFITHS%20OF%20FFORESTFACH.aspx The Rt Hon Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach], [Accessed 2 November 2009]</ref> Prior to which he was head of [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher's]] Policy Unit and co-ordinating the Government's strategy on broadcasting reform. <ref>Andrew Davidson, 'Breakfast at Sunset', ''Independent'', 22 November 1992</ref>  According to the authors of ''Fuzzy Monsters: Fear and Loathing at the BBC'', [[Brian Griffiths|Griffiths]] viewed the licence fee as a denial of freedom of choice and therefore a crime against God. <ref>Chris Horrie and Steve Clarke, ''Fuzzy Monsters – Fear and Loathing at the BBC'' (London: William Heinemann, 1994) p.31</ref>
+Another powerful Thatcher aide involved in broadcasting was [[Brian Griffiths]], who went on to chair the CPS from 1991 to 2000, <ref>Debrett's People of Today, [http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/search/results/3291/Brian%20Griffiths+GRIFFITHS%20OF%20FFORESTFACH.aspx The Rt Hon Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach], [Accessed 2 November 2009]</ref> Griffiths was head of [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher's]] Policy Unit from 1985 to 1990 and co-ordinating the Government's strategy on broadcasting reform. <ref>Andrew Davidson, 'Breakfast at Sunset', ''Independent'', 22 November 1992</ref> According to the authors of ''Fuzzy Monsters: Fear and Loathing at the BBC'', [[Brian Griffiths|Griffiths]] viewed the licence fee as a denial of freedom of choice and therefore a crime against God. <ref>Chris Horrie and Steve Clarke, ''Fuzzy Monsters – Fear and Loathing at the BBC'' (London: William Heinemann, 1994) p.31</ref>
 Another CPS figure from the Thatcher years who deserves a mention is [[Alfred Sherman]], who co-founded the think-tank in 1974 and was its Director of Studies until 1984. <ref>‘[http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U34693 SHERMAN, Sir Alfred]’, ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 [Accessed 26 Nov 2009]</ref> He was the leader writer for the ''Daily Telegraph'' from 1977 to 1986, during which time the paper, though less hostile than the Murdoch press, <ref>cited in Tom O'Malley, ''Closedown?: The BBC and Government Broadcasting Policy 1979-92'' (London: Pluto Press, 1994) p.45</ref> was nevertheless supportive of the Thatcher government’s attacks on of the BBC. A Leader in 1986 (presumably penned by [[Alfred Sherman|Sherman]]) stated:

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 The publication of the pamplet received publicty in the British press, with an extract being published in the ''Daily Telegraph''. <ref>'[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1557389/Here-is-the-news-as-we-want-to-report-it.html Here is the news (as we want to report it)], Telegraph.co.uk, 12:01AM BST 14 Jul 2007</ref> A month later ''The Sunday Times'' published an op-ed piece by Jay which started by making reference to the BBC's recent impartiality report and then reproduced much of the pamphlet. <ref>Antony Jay, '[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2240427.ece Confessions of a BBC liberal]', ''The Sunday Times'', 12 August 2007</ref>
-Earlier the CPS had published a number of reports authored by [[Kathy Gyngell]] and [[David Keighley]] alleging a systematic bias against the right-wing.
+Earlier the CPS had published a number of reports alleging a systematic bias against the right-wing authored by [[Kathy Gyngell]] and [[David Keighley]]. [[Kathy Gyngell|Gyngell]] and [[David Keighley|Keighley]] both worked at [[TV-am]] with [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher’s]] favourite television executive, the late [[Bruce Gyngell]], whom [[Kathy Gyngell|Gyngell]] married in 1986. <ref>‘[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/916058.stm Former TV-am boss dies]’, BBC News Online, 8 September, 2000</ref> Together they founded a media monitoring group [[Minotaur Media Tracking]], which before being commissioned by CPS, authored numerous reports for the Eurosceptic think-tank [[Global Britain]]. <ref>Copies of these reports are posted on Global Britain's website: http://www.globalbritain.org/BBC.asp</ref>
 ===Relevant Publications===

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 ====Allegations of BBC Political Bias====
-In addition to reports advocating the privitisation and commercialisation of the [[BBC]], the [[Cenre for Policy Studies]] has published a number of reports critising the BBC's news and current affairs output as having a liberal-left bias. A year before ''How to save the BBC'', CPS published a pamplet by [[Antony Jay]] entitled ''Confessions of a Reformed BBC Producer''. Jay argued that the [[BBC]] is part of a 'minority media liberal subculture' which promotes attitudes and opinions 'at odds with the majority of the audience and the electorate'. He argued that the culture of 'media liberalism' at the [[BBC]] made it hyper-critical of governments and other powerful institutions. This, Jay argued, had led to the 'erosion of the efficiency and effectiveness' of the institutions Jay called the 'building blocks of civilisation'. Recalling his time at the [[BBC]] (over 40 years earlier) Jay wrote:
+In addition to reports advocating the privitisation and commercialisation of the [[BBC]], the [[Centre for Policy Studies]] has published a number of reports critising the BBC's news and current affairs output as having a liberal-left bias. A year before ''How to save the BBC'', CPS published a pamplet by [[Antony Jay]] entitled ''Confessions of a Reformed BBC Producer''. Jay argued that the [[BBC]] is part of a 'minority media liberal subculture' which promotes attitudes and opinions 'at odds with the majority of the audience and the electorate'. He argued that the culture of 'media liberalism' at the [[BBC]] made it hyper-critical of governments and other powerful institutions. This, Jay argued, had led to the 'erosion of the efficiency and effectiveness' of the institutions Jay called the 'building blocks of civilisation'. Recalling his time at the [[BBC]] (over 40 years earlier) Jay wrote:
 <blockquote style="background-color:ivory;border:1pt solid Darkgoldenrod;padding:1%;font-size:10pt">...we were anti-industry, anti-capitalism, anti-advertising, anti-selling, anti-profit, anti-patriotism, anti-monarchy, anti-Empire, anti-police, anti-armed forces, anti-bomb, anti-authority. Almost anything that made the world a freer, safer and more prosperous place, you name it, we were anti it. <ref>Antony Jay, ‘[http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/CPS_assets/629_ProductPreviewFile.pdf Confessions of a Reformed BBC Producer]’, July 2007; p.15</ref></blockquote>

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 *Kathy Gyngell & David Keighley, ‘[http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/CPS_assets/117_ProductPreviewFile.pdf An Outbreak Of Narcolepsy – Why the BBC must improve its coverage of the EU]’, 16 September 2004
-*Kathy Gyngell & Daivd Keighley, ‘[http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/CPS_assets/124_ProductPreviewFile.pdf Blair's EU-Turn: A case study in BBC partiality]’, 16 September 2004
+*Kathy Gyngell & David Keighley, ‘[http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/CPS_assets/124_ProductPreviewFile.pdf Blair's EU-Turn: A case study in BBC partiality]’, 16 September 2004
 *[[Damian Green]], ‘[http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/CPS_assets/497_ProductPreviewFile.pdf A Better BBC: public service broadcasting in the 1990s]’, 10 November 1991