A government-backed review (chaired by Terry Burns) said that the BBC should update its system of governance, and concentrate on its public service role, in order to justify the public money spent on it.
Source: Independent Panel on BBC Charter Review: Emerging Themes, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200)
Links: Report (pdf) | DCMS press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Dec
A report by a committee of MPs said that the licence fee remained the 'least worst' way of funding the BBC. The government should give serious consideration to the need for measures to make digital switchover affordable and practical to people on low incomes and those with special needs.
Source: A Public BBC, First Report (Session 2004-05), HC 82, House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Dec
A report said that the introduction of digital broadcasting had not eliminated market failure in the provision of public service broadcasting - the main economic justification for a BBC funded by the licence fee. The BBC should therefore be retained in its existing form when its Charter was renewed in 2006.
Source: Gavyn Davies and David Lipsey, The BBC and Public Value, Social Market Foundation (020 7222 7060)
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2004-Dec
A report said that the characterization and reporting of transsexual people had not changed in a significant way since newspapers first became fascinated by so-called 'sex changes' in the 1950 s.
Source: Christine Burns, Transsexual People and the Press, Press For Change (01274 831609)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Nov
The broadcasting regulator set out its approach to the promotion of media literacy. It said that it would support a wide-ranging research programme to assess the extent of media literacy; and greater consistency in presenting information related to possible harm and offence, and to protect young and vulnerable people from inappropriate material.
Source: Ofcom's Strategy and Priorities for the Promotion of Media Literacy, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Statement (pdf) | Ofcom press release
Date: 2004-Nov
A report said that the government would have to spend up to 400 million to help vulnerable members of society when it switched to digital television and ended analogue transmissions.
Source: Ofcom Consumer Panel, Supporting the Most Vulnerable Consumers through Digital Switchover, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Report (pdf) | OCP press release | DCMS press release | Help the Aged press release
Date: 2004-Nov
Two independent reviews were published of the digital television and radio services of the BBC. The television channels, BBC3 and BBC4, were providing poor value for money as well as doing little to connect the BBC with viewers or drive digital take-up. But new radio services had met all the terms of their approvals. A market impact assessment of the new services was published by the broadcasting regulator.
Source: Patrick Barwise, Independent Review of the BBC s Digital Television Services, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200) | Tim Gardam, Independent Review of the BBC's Digital Radio Services, Department for Culture, Media and Sport | Assessment of the Market Impact of the BBC s New Digital TV and Radio Services, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Barwise report (pdf) | Gardam report (pdf) | Ofcom report (pdf) | DCMS press release (1) | DCMS press release (2)
Date: 2004-Oct
A report by an expert group made a number of detailed recommendations on the steps that needed to be taken to ensure the public was ready for digital television switchover. It recommended assistance for low-income households with the cost of conversion, including the cost of replacing aerials and installation where necessary.
Source: Consumer Expert Group, Persuasion or Compulsion? Consumers and analogue switch-off, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200)
Links: Report (pdf) | DCMS press release | ACRE press release (pdf)
Date: 2004-Oct
A think-tank report called for subscriptions to the BBC to be made voluntary, but with a fund that would finance public service broadcasting on a competitive basis. It also proposed a new corporate model for the BBC that would make it independent of the state but not fully commercial.
Source: Alan Peacock, Public Service Broadcasting Without the BBC?, Institute of Economic Affairs, available from Lavis Marketing (01865 767575)
Links: Report (pdf) | IEA press release
Date: 2004-Oct
A new book examined recent trends in the management of the BBC. It argued for a new kind of self-regulation on the part of the BBC, and outlined a new philosophical rationale to underpin the increasingly important role played by the corporation in a pluralist world.
Source: Georgina Born, Uncertain Vision, Secker and Warburg (020 7840 8649)
Links: ESRC press release
Date: 2004-Sep
The broadcasting regulator published the second phase of its statutory review of public service broadcasting, setting out key proposals to maintain and strengthen public service television in the digital age. It proposed a new 300 million public television service to provide competition for the BBC.
Source: Review of Public Service Television Broadcasting: Phase 2 Meeting the digital challenge, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Ofcom press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Sep
The broadcasting regulator published responses to a consultation on public service broadcasting. There was agreement that there was a 'sustainable rationale' for public service broadcasting: the market would continue to under-provide programming that was valued by society.
Source: Review of Public Service Television Broadcasting: Summary of phase 1 consultation responses, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Aug
The government began consultation on a proposal by the European Commission for a legally enforceable right of reply to all media - including newspapers, magazines and other print media, radio, television and internet - in relation to any information in the media presenting inaccurate facts which affected personal rights.
Source: Proposal for a Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Protection of Minors and Human Dignity and the Right of Reply in Relation to the Competitiveness of the European Audiovisual and Information Services Industry, European Commission (00 800 6789 1011)
Links: EU proposal (pdf) | DCMS webpage
Date: 2004-Aug
A consultation exercise found that the BBC was held in high esteem by the British public: but there were some concerns about a general decline in quality.
Source: What You Said About the BBC, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200)
Links: Report (pdf) | DCMS press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jul
The BBC published a document setting out its case for the continuation of its method of funding, role and remit. It called on the government to hand the responsibility for setting the television licence fee to an independent body modelled on the Bank of England's monetary policy committee.
Source: Building Public Value: Renewing the BBC for a digital world, BBC Charter Review, Media Centre MC4 C3, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TQ
Links: Report (pdf) | BBC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jun
Television programmes could be rated according to the levels of sex and violence they contained, according to a consultation paper issued by the broadcasting regulator.
Source: Ofcom s Strategy and Priorities for the Promotion of Media Literacy: Consultation document, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jun
A report presented a new economic rationale for public service broadcasting, based on the positive impact broadcasting could have on social capital.
Source: Martin Brookes, Watching Alone: Social capital and public service broadcasting, Work Foundation (0870 165 6700) and British Broadcasting Corporation
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-May
The broadcasting regulator began consultation on the effectiveness of broadcasting on the main terrestrial television channels, and on how to maintain and strengthen the quality of public service broadcasting.
Source: Review of Public Service Television Broadcasting, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Consultation document | Ofcom press release | Guardian leader
Date: 2004-Apr
A report examined how children in trouble were portrayed in the national press. It said that scaremongering and unsympathetic reporting added to a climate of fear which suggested that all children were a cause of trouble.
Source: A Vicious Circle?: What the papers say about children in trouble with the law, SHAPE, available from Barnardo s (01268 520224)
Links: Report (pdf) | Barnardo's press release
Date: 2004-Apr
A think-tank report by a government adviser said that spread of digital television would expose fundamental contradictions in the BBC s status, and undermine the case for the licence fee. The BBC would at some point have to decide whether it wanted to be a large, commercial organisation or a much smaller one funded by public money.
Source: Barry Cox, Free for All?: Public service television in the digital age, Demos, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Links: Report (pdf) | Demos press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Feb
A report commissioned by the opposition Conservative Party said that the BBC should to be split into separate units, with the licence fee being phased out and replaced by subscription charges (and possibly by advertising revenues). The Conservative Party said it would be wrong to 'jump to any conclusions' about adopting the report's recommendations.
Source: Beyond the Charter: The BBC after 2006, Broadcasting Policy Group, available from Premium Publishing (07974 176708) | Press release 24 February 2004, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000)
Links: Report (pdf) | BPC press release | Conservative Party press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Feb
The report of an inquiry by Lord Hutton (into the circumstances surrounding the death of a government scientific adviser) criticised the BBC over inaccurate reporting of allegations regarding the war in Iraq. Both the chairman of the BBC governors, and the Director General of the BBC, subsequently resigned.
Source: Lord Hutton, Report of the Inquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding the Death of Dr David Kelly C.M.G., HC 247, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 28 January 2004, columns 337-358, TSO
Date: 2004-Jan
A think-tank book argued that the Board of Governors of the BBC had to be radically reformed in order to provide effective regulation of the Corporation. It also proposed a reform of the BBC licence fee: the concession scheme, currently available only to those over 75, should be extended to everyone on incapacity benefit as a first step. Ultimately, it recommended a hypothecated tax on individuals income, collected by the Inland Revenue, with reduced fees for all benefit claimants.
Source: Jamie Cowling and Damian Tambini (eds.), From Public Service Broadcasting to Public Service Communications, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: IPPR press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jan