- Mark Thompson
- 20 Sep 07, 04:36 PM
After a , we're not out of the woods yet but we can definitely see daylight ahead.
The back in July is complete. An independent spot-check of premium phone-lines which we will be discussing with the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Trust in October has been completed. This piece of work covered a number of aspects of programmes using premium rate phone-lines and found no evidence of systemic failures within the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ or any malpractice within the programme sample. Our plans not just for training, but for a discussion about editorial standards and judgement-calls which will involve every programme-maker in the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ are well under way – we’ll launch all that in November. We also hope to begin a phased and carefully controlled re-introduction of competitions in November.
The trawl did find four more cases of serious audience deception to go with the six we disclosed in July. But, after considering more than a million hours of output, we can also confirm that, to the very best of our knowledge, the overwhelming majority of our programmes are honest. Of course we can’t rule out something else serious emerging, but we believe we’ve got to the bottom of the problems – and need to concentrate now on making sure they never happen again.
There is no evidence that there is a widespread culture of deception at the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½. On the contrary, all the evidence points to the fact that 99.99% or more of our programmes are trustworthy and that almost all of our programme-makers take their duty to the public incredibly seriously.
The trawl also underlines some of the differences between our problems and those of other broadcasters. Over the summer, we’ve seen high-profile premium phone-line cases in the commercial sector involving money running into tens of millions of pounds. At the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, the trawl has not revealed a single case of fraud – or indeed anyone acting through self-interest or a desire for personal gain.
Continue reading "Trust and values"
Mark Thompson is the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s director general
- Mark Coyle
- 20 Sep 07, 02:44 PM
They gathered together, the great and the good from a cross-section of Scottish society.
The occasion - the official opening of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scotland's gleaming new headquarters, built at a cost of £188m, on the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow.
Staff lined the passageways on all five floors to listen to the speakers, Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Trust; director general Mark Thompson and the guest of honour, Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Pacific Quay represents a model of what the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ wants to become... a "test-bed" was how Mark Thompson described it.
New digital production systems turning out more, engaging programmes for radio and television and multimedia content online. New working practices, with teams of journalists and other production staff collaborating more closely, stirring the creative spirit, sparking new ideas.
Openness is a theme of this building (you can see pictures of it ). Even the controller, Ken McQuarrie, sits in the open. In fact, one of the few places where staff can close and lock a door behind them is the unisex toilets (which remain a topic of fairly heated discussion).
Scotland can be an uncomfortable place for London-based ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ executives. The director-general referred to the first time eight years ago when he set foot on the then undeveloped wasteland that was Pacific Quay.
Then, he said, there was a "very lively" debate about broadcasting in Scotland. Today is no different and the themes remain broadly similar, with critics labelling the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ the "EBC", or "English Broadcasting Corporation".
Devolution - and more significantly, the outcome of May's Scottish Parliament elections - has moved the goalposts. The SNP-led Scottish Government (itself a contentious title) has launched a commission to look into the state of Scottish broadcasting.
At the heart of the debate is the 3% the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ currently spends in Scotland on producing television programmes which are seen across the entire UK network. First Minister Alex Salmond wants that figure to rise to 9%, which represents the proportion of the UK population in Scotland.
Today, Mark Thompson played the ball back into the politician's court. He told the audience that network deliveries from ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scotland "can and must grow to at least its proportion of the UK population".
He referred to this as a "floor, rather than a ceiling", echoing Mr Salmond's own words delivered last month when he announced the commission.
And so the debate goes on.
Whilst today was about looking forward, history was given its due place in the proceedings.
Mark Thompson remarked that the gathering was standing on Prince's Dock, the former name of Pacific Quay. George Reith, grandfather of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s imposing founder John Reith, had been instrumental in the excavation of the dock.
John Reith's daughter Marista was in the audience. In a book about her father, she talked about his "tall ghost" still stalking the corridors of Broadcasting House in London.
Reith's original office table from Savoy Hill has been restored and placed in the controller's area on the third floor of Pacific Quay, prompting the caution that Kenny McQuarrie shouldn't be surprised if he felt a "stooped and vigilant figure looking over his shoulder".
There were nostalgic words too from Gordon Brown. It was only a few yards away, beside the shipyards of Govan, where his father began his Church of Scotland ministry in 1937.
To be present 70 years later at the opening of Pacific Quay was to send out a message of faith in the regeneration of Glasgow, once the "workshop of the world".
So, warm words and high hopes. After the dignitaries have left and Pacific Quay finds its natural rhythm, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scotland's new home will be judged by the output it produces.
It feels a wee bit like we're in a goldfish bowl with the rest of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and licence-fee payers looking in. Now it's down to us to get the best out of our investment.
Mark Coyle is ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scotland's continuous news editor
- James Stephenson
- 20 Sep 07, 01:46 PM
Question Time is back tonight after its summer break - some compensation we hope for the sudden autumn chill and the nights drawing in!
Interactivity and so-called user generated content - that's you giving us what goes in the show - are the buzz words of the moment. And you can't be much more user-generated than the classic Question Time formula of inviting 150 members of the public to tell it like it is to senior politicians and other public figures.
includes Christiane Amanpour - probably the most famous woman in TV news - who's just appeared on a list of the 100 most powerful women in the world. I'm sure Paddy Ashdown will be ready to face the third degree about Sir Ming's leadership of the Lib Dems if that's what people want to talk about. You can tell us what you'd like discussed by .
If QT is a classic formula, there's still always room for improvement. This spring, beat off fierce competition from other independent companies to continue making the show and they're introducing new elements to freshen things up. There's a new set and titles - bringing the show closer to the style of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One and ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ News. . Question Time now has its own audience seating, making it possible to go to .
There are also two additional shows - will run straight after Question Time on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ News 24, giving everyone at home a chance to have a say about this week's debate. And you can see an edited highlights version of the main show, again on News 24 at 20:30 on Saturday evening.
James Stephenson is chief of the Jerusalem bureau
The Guardian : A columnist asks if the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ should simulcast TV programmes such as Newsnight on the radio. ()
The Times: "Blue Peter was accused yesterday of deceiving children for the second time in a year as the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ removed staff blamed for a series of scandals." ()
The Guardian: Mark Lawson comments on international coverage of the Madeleine McCann story. ()
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