If you’ve read some of my recent pieces about the BBC, you’ll probably be aware that there’s a consultation going on, and a Charter Review is due soon.
The deadline for responding to the government’s consultation is TODAY, 8th October. If you haven’t responded, please do so as soon as you can, by following this link.
Some of the questions are complex (and arguably biased towards change), but you don’t have to answer them all. However, I do think it’s important as many people as possible respond, and not just those (like commercial broadcasters) with axes to grind. There are plenty who want to see the BBC cut down to size, and willing to heap the blame for their own failures on the BBC. (I’m looking at some of you, local newspapers…)
In particular, the licence fee is an important issue, and you may want to read something I wrote about it here before you respond to the consultation. I would also urge you to read the piece I wrote for The Register about the consultation too.
Above all, remember that though the consultation is ostensibly about the BBC, it has the potential to have a big impact on the whole of UK broadcasting, and especially on the ability of people to get a good range of quality material without having to pay a subscription.