British Broadcasting Corporation

The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known more simply as the BBC, is the world's largest broadcasting corporation.

It has 28,500 employees in the United Kingdom alone with an annual budget of more than £4 billion/$8 billion.

Origins and history

The BBC was the first national state broadcasting organisation. Founded on 18 October 1922] as the British Broadcasting Company Ltd, it was subsequently granted a Royal Charter and was made a publicly funded corporation in 1927. The corporation produces programmes and information services, broadcasting globally on television, radio, and the Internet. The stated mission of the BBC is "to inform, educate and entertain" (as laid down by Parliament in the BBC Charter); its motto is "Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation".

The BBC is a quasi-autonomous public corporation as a public service broadcaster]]. The Corporation is run by the BBC Trust; and is, per its charter, supposed to be "free from both political and commercial influence and answers only to its viewers and listeners".

The BBC's domestic programming is primarily funded by levying television licence fees (under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949), although money is also raised through commercial activities such as sale of merchandise and programming. The BBC World Service, however, is funded through a grant-in-aid by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As part of the BBC Charter, the Corporation cannot show commercial advertising on any services in the United Kingdom (television, radio, or internet). Outside the United Kingdom the BBC broadcasts commercially funded channels such as BBC America, BBC Canada, and BBC World News. In order to justify the licence fee, the BBC is expected to produce a number of high-rating shows in addition to programmes that commercial broadcasters would not normally broadcast.

History

The BBC, Impartiality and the State

The General Strike 1926

John Reith confided to his diary:

The Cabinet decision is really a negative one. They want to be able to say that they did not commandeer us, but they know they can trust us not to be really impartial.

John Pilger contrasts the actual implementation of a policy on impartiality with the literal meaning. He states:

The BBC began in 1922, just before the corporate press began in America. Its founder was Lord John Reith, who believed that impartiality and objectivity were the essence of professionalism. In the same year the British establishment was under siege. The unions had called a general strike and the Tories were terrified that a revolution was on the way. The new BBC came to their rescue. In high secrecy, Lord Reith wrote anti-union speeches for the Tory Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and broadcast them to the nation, while refusing to allow the labor leaders to put their side until the strike was over. So, a pattern was set. Impartiality was a principle certainly: a principle to be suspended whenever the establishment was under threat. And that principle has been upheld ever since.

Current activities

Management

The BBC is a nominally autonomous corporation, independent from direct government intervention, with its activities being overseen by the BBC Trust, formerly the Board of Governors. General management of the organisation is in the hands of a Director-General, who is appointed by the Trust.

BBC Trust

The BBC Trust came into effect on 1 January 2007, replacing the Board of Governors.

"The BBC Trust works on behalf of licence fee payers: it ensures the BBC provides high quality output and good value for all UK citizens and it protects the independence of the BBC." – BBC Trust

The Trust sets the overall strategic direction for the corporation and assesses the performance of the BBC Executive Board. The Trust has twelve trustees, currently:

• Sir Michael Lyons (Chair)
• Chitra Bharucha (Vice-Chair)
• Diane Coyle
• Dermot Gleeson
• Alison Hastings
• Patricia Hodgson
• Rotha Johnston
• Janet Lewis-Jones
• David Liddiment
• Jeremy Peat
• Mehmuda Pritchard
• Richard Tait

The original trustees, three former governors and eight new members, were announced by Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in October 2006. Michael Grade, then Chairman of the Governors, was to become Chairman of the Trust at the time of the announcement, but due to his move to ITV, Chitra Bharucha became the Acting Chair. Sir Michael Lyons took over as Chairman from 1 May 2007.

Executive Board

The Executive Board oversees the effective delivery of the corporation's objectives and obligations within a framework set by the BBC Trust, and is headed by the Director-General, Mark Thompson. In December 2006, Thompson announced the final appointments to the new Executive Board, consisting of ten directors from the different operations of the group, and five non-executive directors, appointed to provide independent and professional advice to the Executive Board. The members are:

• Mark Thompson (Board Chairman and Director-General)
• Mark Byford (Deputy Chairman and Deputy Director-General; Director, Journalism Group)
• Caroline Thomson (Chief Operating Officer)
• Jana Bennett OBE (Director, BBC Vision)
• Jenny Abramsky (Director, BBC Audio and Music)
• Erik Huggers (Director, Future Media and Technology)
• John Smith (Chief Executive, BBC Worldwide)
• Zarin Patel (Group Finance Director)
• Steve Kelly (Director, BBC People)
• Tim Davie (Director, Marketing, Communications and Audiences)
• Joe Godwin (Executive Producer, CBBC)

Non-executive directors:

• Marcus Agius (Senior non-executive director), Chairman, Barclays
• Val Gooding Chief Executive of BUPA,
• Dr Mike Lynch OBE, co-founder and Chief Executive, Autonomy Corporation
• David Robbie, Group Finance Director, Rexam
• Dr Samir Shah OBE, Chief Executive, Juniper Communications
• Robert Webb QC, General Counsel, British Airways

Governors

Template:Main The Board of Governors regulated the group from incorporation in 1927 until 31 December 2006, when the Board was replaced by the BBC Trust. The governors as of the dissolution of the Board were:

• Anthony Salz (Acting Chairman)
• Professor Ranjit Sondhi (National Governor for the English regions)
• Professor Fabian Monds (National Governor for Northern Ireland)
• Professor Merfyn Jones (National Governor for Wales)
• Jeremy Peat (National Governor for Scotland)
• Deborah Bull
• Baroness Deech
• Dermot Gleeson
• Angela Sarkis
• Richard Tait