The Culture Secretary says she will hold the BBC to the highest standards but promised sustainable funding for the organisation.
Addressing the Royal Television Society event in Cambridge, Lisa Nandy said Public Service Media was “fighting to be seen and heard” in an increasingly competitive market.
“It fights with one arm behind its back, staring down multiple challenges – funding shortfalls, changing viewing habits and regulation that hasn’t kept pace with the media revolution of recent years.”
Nandy said the foundations needed to be fixed for the long-term, pointing to legislation within the 2024 Media Act that ensures Public Service Media has prominence on smart TVs. She also gave support for Ofcom’s recommendation that Public Service Media content should be prominent on major video sharing platforms and said the government would regulate if necessary but expressed a preference for the industry to come together on its own. “We all benefit and are all stronger for the dynamic mixed ecology of our commercial broadcasters, streamers, studios and content creators that together with our independent production sector make the UK a global TV powerhouse.”
Nandy also promised audiences that they would be able to “distinguish between news and polemic, and misleading or false content” saying that the lines had blurred, eroding trust “in our media, democracy and most dangerously, in each other”.
Acknowledging that only the BBC could provide shared national moments such as VE Day or the Christmas Day broadcasts of Gavin and Stacey and Wallace and Gromit, she said stories should reflect the whole of the UK, not just London.
Referencing the controversial Gaza documentary she said: “Upholding basic editorial standards whether in relation to Gaza or anything else matters precisely because those voices, from Palestine and every place where sunlight is needed, must be heard, and must be trusted.”
She added that the BBC should also work to improve its workplace culture.
A Green Paper ahead of the BBC’s Charter renewal is expected later this year.
