| [ Campaign to Keep Global
Issues on Free-to-Air TV ] Letter to Rt Hon Tessa Jowell
12 February 2002
Rt Hon Tessa Jowell
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH
I am writing to urge you to include in the forthcoming Communications
Bill a specific requirement on broadcasters to include programming
on international subjects and perspectives in their factual output,
outside of and in addition to news and current affairs.
Worldaware has over many years worked to promote the widest understanding
of global development issues, their importance and the interdependence
of today’s world. It has concentrated on young people, largely
through the formal education system, and on the need in particular
to understand the relationship between rich and poor countries.
Understanding our world has never been more important or more urgent.
There has been a dramatic shift in global influences over the last
two years. We do not yet understand this fully. Growing inequality,
different cultural and religious beliefs, and other divisions pose
huge challenges for security, for economic development, and for
the general welfare of people in rich and poor countries alike.
These require new thinking about how we conduct ourselves. Change
on this scale has not happened since the Second World War, and possibly
longer.
Government, business, civil society, media and academe have a joint
responsibility to ensure people, especially young people, have a
truly global perspective from which to form their views about how
the world should function and be governed. It is among the most
important things they can do for the security and prosperity of
the world – the connection, made by among others the Prime
Minister, between global inequalities and the threats to global
security is undeniable. If we get this wrong now, increasingly polarised
and partial understanding will continue to undermine stability and
economic growth in both rich and poor countries.
The part that Government has to play is clear. It should set a
framework which will allow the general level of understanding to
increase, and broader perspectives on the world to be appreciated
for what they are worth. The forthcoming Communications Bill offers
a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do this by ensuring that broadcasters
are required to present perspectives on international issues on
mainstream TV, which reliable surveys show is still the primary
source of information for most people on developing countries. Not
only will this help to meet today’s and tomorrow’s need,
but it will reverse a trend over the last decade which has seen
factual international programming (outside news) fall by 42% (the
figure for programming on developing countries was higher –
at 50%).
It is difficult to overstate the importance of this as a contribution
to political stability and security both in Britain and the rest
of the world. Without the breadth of understanding about our world,
and an appreciation of its essential interdependence, we run the
danger of retreating into an unhealthy isolationism, building pressures
which cannot in the end be contained.
We believe that the Government is aware of these dangers, but we
do not think sufficient account has been taken of them in the drafting
(as we understand it) of the Bill so far. While the general remit
on broadcasters is (rightly) to be specific and binding, and while
we welcome the requirement for news and current affairs programming
to include coverage of international issues, we are disappointed
and concerned that there is no mention of a requirement to include
international issues and perspectives in the overall factual output.
We believe this is at variance with the principles set out in the
White Paper, which saw the need for public service broadcasting
to “guarantee the availability of full and balanced information
about the world at local, regional and global levels…the key
foundation of an open, balanced public debate”. Without this,
there is no doubt that the downward trend of coverage of these issues
will continue (apart, perhaps, from programmes on wild-life and
tourism, which are wholly unrepresentative). This can only be damaging
to our political and cultural life.
We therefore urge you to ensure that the proposed wording of the
‘general remit’ of the Bill is amended from that which
is contained in the letters sent to the commercial broadcasters
on 28 December 2001. Given that this wording is drawn from the government’s
Agreement with the BBC, which predates the undertakings in the White
Paper, we suggest that this should be updated to reflect those promises.
Amendments could be made to Clause 1 (‘…having regard
to the inclusion of factual programmes in various genres which cover
international subjects and perspectives’) and/or to sub-Clause
2e (insert ‘covering national, international and global subjects
and perspectives’ after ‘programmes of an educational
nature’) and/or by adding a new sub-Clause 2i to the same effect.
I very much hope that you will feel able to instruct the Bill’s
drafters to this effect.
Tony Boardman
Director
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