Greg Dyke addresses BBC future
Posted on 24/05/2012
Greg Dyke has said that the biggest challenge facing the BBC in the coming years is ‘money, money, money’, at a round table discussion on the future of the Corporation hosted by Patrick Wright, Professor of Literature and Visual & Material Culture, at King’s.
The former Director General said the two big issues going forward, for the organisation he led between 2000 and 2004, were the internet and the licence fee.
Greg Dyke gives his thoughts on the future of the BBC.
Greg Dyke was at King’s as part of the launch of ourBeeb, a digital campaign that aims to widen discussion about the role, purpose and future of the publicly-owned broadcaster. King’s Department of English has formed an official partnership with ourBeeb which is an independent section of openDemocracy, a website dedicated to debate about international politics and culture.
Professor Wright, who is on the ourBeeb Steering Group said: ‘There are decisions to be made about the future of the BBC as it moves towards the appointment of a new Director General. We must explore how it can take its public commitment forward in a radically changed media world. The TV industry is a closed shop to most people, but the BBC is a publicy-funded body and this campaign should help to create a wider discussion of how it meets its responsibilities in these challenging times.'
Greg Dyke was a lead witness in the round table discussion, led by ourBeeb Steering Group chair Anthony Barnett, which featured, among others, Helena Kennedy QC, prize winning journalist Clare Sambrook, Liz Forgan, chair of Arts Council England, David Elstein, Kamila Shamsie and scholar of black studies, Paul Gilroy.
Anthony Barnett said: ‘The power and future of public broadcasting, after the fall of Murdoch, towers over traditional party politics. It is like the Shard looking down on the Globe Theatre. We aim to reshape the debate on the future of our most important cultural institution. OurBeeb will give the British public their say.’
Greg Dyke said that the BBC faced a challenging time after this year, with all the excitement of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and the Olympic coverage. He said the job of Director General was, ‘interesting, but hard’, concluding, ‘it takes more than one DG to get to grips with the BBC.’
Partly echoing the core beliefs of ourBeeb, Greg Dyke said that it required a combination of the Government and the public to look at the BBC and shape it, yet indicated his belief that: ‘The BBC is about challenging the government of the day. It’s the job of the BBC to question things.’
This is the first of many high-profile joint events for King’s and the newly launched ourBeeb.
For further media information please contact Anna Mitchell anna.i.mitchell@kcl.ac.uk or 0207 848 3092.
For further information about King’s, visit our ‘King’s in Brief’ page.