VLV has published its response to the Government's Green Paper on the future of the BBC, 'Review of the BBC's Royal Charter'. Key points in VLV's response include:
BBC Programmes
VLV shares the ambition that the BBC's programmes should be "excellent, distinctive and entertaining" but is concerned that of this trilogy "entertainment" appears to have been dropped from the relevant section of the Green Paper (p. 9, line 11) VLV believes that the ability of the BBC to provide a full public service will be determined also by its ability to entertain, not just to be 'engaging'.Digital Switchover
The cost of funding digital access for vulnerable groups should not fall on the licence fee payer, but on central government where the responsibilities for vulnerable listeners and viewers properly lie, and which will ultimately reap financial benefit from the sale of analogue frequencies following switch-off.Democratic Purposes of the BBC
VLV sees the BBC's role in contributing to the democratic process as being further enhanced by new technologies. The opportunity for listeners and viewers to contribute more directly to democratic debate will increase, as will the opportunity for them to be better informed. The BBC has basic purposes and the information base from which to develop its services further but this must be achieved within the context of heightened citizenship awareness. Increased bottom-up activity will become progressively more feasible as participation possibilities widen and VLV considers that the BBC should be at the forefront of harnessing it. The BBC also should recognise that in 'Nation shall speak unto Nation' the nation is not the BBC but representative of the whole country.A White Paper on the BBC's future is expected to be published in Autumn 2005
VLV's full response to the BBC Green Paper VLV Response to Government BBC Green Paper - filesize is 101k