Of the four main reports released in the first few weeks of 2009, Ofom’s Final Statement on Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) and Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report are the most significant for the SKTV campaign. They highlight support for the BBC and suggest the creation of a new public service entity involving a restructured Channel 4, possibly in partnership with BBC Worldwide, or another partner. Both reports lay a great deal of stress of the importance of plurality in news provision, both nationally and regionally.
The Ofcom report has a section on Children’s which, while reflecting good intention, reads as anodyne, and lacks any sense of urgency present in previous Ofcom statements. The report states that : (note that italics are ours, to illustrate our concerns about the conditional nature of Ofcom’s recommendations)
- There is a clear public interest in addressing needs identified for children’s programming if funding is available
- A second public service institution could play an important role in delivering content to older children
- However, provision by a second public service institution might not go far enough, in which case, competitive funding could play a role.
The report goes on to note SKTV’s enthusiasm for the above, and mentions our proposal for a new public service “destination” for children.
SKTV has asked for clarification from Ofcom about the apparent lack of commitment implied in the above.
Digital Britain
With Ofcom’s role in advising on policy for the immediate future now complete, the initiative is with Lord Carter, Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
The Carter report, “Digital Britain – the future of communications”, is primarily concerned with the economic role of the communications sector and the provision of a universal high speed upgraded broadband service. It talks about: the potential for a rights agency to protect copyrights; a national media literacy plan; commitment to the BBC; a second public service insitition, along the BBC/C4 models; finding new ways of financing content creation – for example, equipment levies and contestable funding; the importance of plurality, especially in news; and UK-generated content for UK consumers.
The Digital Britain report makes one mention of children’s content:
“We also recognise the concerns raised by stakeholders…in relation to the provision of high quality original UK programming for children. The plural public service provision of original children’s production, especially for the over 10’s (a group currently underserved by the market, unlike older teenagers and young adults) is an area we have identified as being very important. We will return to this important topic in the final Digital Britain report.”
The report references the Byron report, and the need to ensure internet safety, and there is an emphasis on training children to use the internet properly, with references to Creative Britain, Find Your Talent, etc.
The report raises many issues for discussion and review, but again, from SKTV’s perspective, there is little sense of urgency, and the narrowing down of the age range to over 10’s is worrying.
Feedback on the Digital Britain report is required by the end of March, and there will a be a Digital Britain Summit in April, followed by a final report in early summer. SKTV will be providing feedback and comments.
Interest can be registered at digitalbritain@brr.gsi.gov.uk
