Tuesday 22 February 2005
Printable version
Check against delivery
Ladies and Gentlemen, it's a great pleasure to be here in Northern
Ireland.
I'd like to thank you, on behalf of all the 成人论坛 Governors who are with
me tonight, for the very warm welcome we've received.
成人论坛 Governors are, as you may have heard, high on the list of endangered
species these days.
That puts us right up there with the giant armadillo, the lesser rabbit
bandicoot and the Queensland hairy-nosed wombat.
I won't say which Governor most resembles which of those threatened
beasts.
But these days I sometimes begin to feel like the chap who started
each day by reading the obituaries in The Times - and only if he didn't
see his own name there did he know it was safe to get up.
We expect the Government's Green Paper on the future structure of the
成人论坛 within the next few weeks.
In the meantime it's very nice to be among friends. Northern Ireland,
of course, has a special place in the chronicles of the 成人论坛.
Asa Briggs, in his official history of the Corporation, refers to it
as the 成人论坛's "most contrary region."
Many of the trickiest issues that the 成人论坛 has had to deal with have
had their origins here.
My own broadcasting career is testimony to this. Twenty years ago,
as Controller of 成人论坛 ONE, I had to deal with the fallout from a documentary
called Real Lives which made waves because it contained an interview
with a youthful Martin McGuinness.
A few years later, as Chief Executive of Channel Four, I had to cope
with Mrs Thatcher's broadcasting ban forbidding the transmission of
the voices of representatives of a list of named organisations.
As you may remember, it produced a lucrative windfall for actors with
an Ulster accent and a talent for lip-synched voice-over.
Times have changed since then. But Northern Ireland remains a place
of unique sensitivities - and therefore of unique challenges for the
成人论坛.
One of the biggest of those challenges for the Governors is keeping
our eyes and ears open to the many different voices and communities
that make up 成人论坛 audiences here.
It's our job as Governors to represent the public interest, to be
the voice of the licence fee payers, to ensure that their concerns are
fully taken into account when the 成人论坛 makes its decisions.
This is not just a matter of steering deftly through the traditional
Northern Ireland minefields of politics and religion, but of recognising
that there are many other things around which our audiences cohere as
well as religion and politics.
People may be political and they may be religious. But many also belong
to other communities too - communities of age, place, ethnicity, leisure-interest,
language or work.
The 成人论坛 needs to keep in touch with all those communities too.
And since those communities are not always as well organised or as
vocal as, say, a political party, we can't always rely on them knocking
on our door.
Keeping in touch with them demands that we proactively seek out their
opinions on what we do.
Colin Morris, the former Controller of 成人论坛 Northern Ireland, is fond
of quoting a 成人论坛 pamphlet from the Sixties about audience accountability:
"The 成人论坛 has to be alert to silences as well as clamour, to have a skin
thick and sensitive, to step boldly and delicately."
One of the key ways we keep in touch with our audiences here is through
the work of the Northern Ireland Broadcasting Council.
The 成人论坛's broadcasting councils do really remarkable work. That work
isn't always as well recognised as it should be. So I'd like to take
the opportunity to pay tribute this evening.
Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each have their own council, and
in England there's the English National Forum.
Each one is chaired by a member of the 成人论坛 Board of Governors and together
they act as a set of extremely sensitive antennae, keeping the body
politic of the 成人论坛 alert to the concerns of its audiences right around
the UK.
Their primary role is to assist the Board of Governors in ensuring
that the 成人论坛 fulfils its public purposes and potential and that its
services properly reflect the needs, interests and concerns of audiences
in the nations and regions - assisting and evaluating the 成人论坛's two-way
relationship with local audiences.
They also provide advice to 成人论坛 management on the strategic direction
and effectiveness of local programme output.
The National Council for Northern Ireland is chaired, of course, by
Fabian Monds, in his capacity as National Governor for the 成人论坛 in Northern
Ireland.
There are 11 other members of the council - every one of them recruited
through open advertisements and an independently audited process.
They spend a great deal of time keeping in touch with interest groups
across Northern Ireland to make sure that their voices are taken account
of as the 成人论坛 makes its decisions.
Over the past 12 months, Fabian and his team have consulted viewers
and listeners representing older people, people with disabilities, people
with an interest in the environment, young people, ethnic minorities,
people with an interest in health provision and representatives of sporting
organisations.
And that's in addition to wider public meetings on Charter Review
and digital switchover, and regional consultation events in Coleraine,
Strabane, Newtownards, Armagh, Londonderry and Magherafelt.
It's an impressive record of proactive accountability. Summaries of
every meeting are published on the 成人论坛 Northern Ireland website - and
attract 6,000 hits a month. The summaries make for what I can only call
bracing reading.
The people who come to these events are knowledgeable, engaged - and
they don't pull any punches.
When the 成人论坛 fails to live up to their expectations they say so and
they don't mince their words.
Some of them want less stereotyping of the old, others want more positive
coverage of the achievements of the young, greater sensitivity in the
portrayal of disability, less reactive reporting of the voluntary sector,
more in-depth analysis of environmental issues, new guidelines on minority
ethnic communities - and better coverage of bowls!
What's so encouraging as you read through these accounts is that people
do have high expectations of the 成人论坛.
Even the most critical start from the position that the 成人论坛 is where
it ought to be: at the heart of the many communities of Northern Ireland
- bowls players included.
They do feel it is their 成人论坛. So of course they want it to do more,
to do it better, to present their particular community with more sophistication
and more understanding. And they are right to want that.
But of course the question you are all asking yourselves is: does it
all make a blind bit of difference? Do all these meetings and consultations
actually change anything?
Well, yes. They do. Let me give you an example. One of the recurrent
complaints at the recent regional events that Fabian has hosted has
been the restricted availability of the 成人论坛's digital radio services
on its national multiplex in Northern Ireland.
Coverage is just over 40 per cent, compared with more than 80 per cent
elsewhere in the UK.
The concerns were perhaps best summed up by a radio fan who came to
one of last year's accountability events. This is what he said: "It
is wholly unacceptable that the 成人论坛 has not committed to any timetable
for the roll-out or enhancement of DAB coverage in Northern Ireland
and that the new 成人论坛 digital radio services are not more widely available."
The Broadcasting Council were on the case. They had identified this
'digital deficit' as a major policy issue.
They pressed the 成人论坛 hard to speed up very significantly its roll-out
of DAB in Northern Ireland. They made their case with vigour and persistence.
And it worked. I'm very happy tonight to be able to announce that the
成人论坛 is commissioning three new DAB-enabled transmitters in Northern
Ireland at Brougher, Limavady and Sheriff's Mountain in Londonderry.
These will effectively double the DAB coverage and bring benefit to
large numbers of people in the north-west and west.
The first two of these transmitters will come on stream in late spring.
The third will follow in summer.
So you see, we do listen to what our audiences tell us.
Underneath all the critical engagement that comes through the reports
of the accountability events is an extraordinary strength of connection
between the people of Northern Ireland and 成人论坛 Northern Ireland.
Here are some figures.
Sixty thousand people attended 成人论坛 Northern Ireland recordings or other
events last year.
Two thirds of the population experienced last year's Music Live - either
by attending the concerts or through the broadcasts.
Some 40 per cent of the population listen to Radio Ulster and Radio
Foyle.
It was good, incidentally, to see Radio Foyle's sustained excellence
down the years recognised by a Sony award for station of the year in
the latest set of awards.
It's the fourth time it's won this prize - the most prestigious the
industry has to offer.
In the words of the Sony judges: "Always engaging and informative,
成人论坛 Radio Foyle really connect with their audience and do a remarkable
job of speaking with one voice for all the people of their complex community."
You couldn't ask for a finer testimonial than that.
And while I'm on the subject of testimonials - I've quoted some of
the more critical comments from the accountability events, but the 成人论坛
does get praise too.
Here's what one of the people who came to the event in Newtownards
last May had to say about Music Live: "Music Live 2004 was absolutely
exceptional. The large-scale concert in Belfast was a positively joyous
occasion and the 成人论坛 is to be congratulated."
And I wasn't even working for the 成人论坛 when it happened!
As you know, we're in the closing stages of the Charter Review process.
Our current Charter expires at the end of next year.
The forthcoming Green Paper will translate into a White Paper later
this year.
Right now, we really don't know in any detail what the future holds
for the 成人论坛.
The case we've made for a new 成人论坛 Charter hinges on the idea of 'public
value'. By which we mean that the value created by the 成人论坛 is more than
simply the sum of its output.
Great output - on radio, television and the internet - is crucial.
But this output must support wider public purposes.
So, for example, the 成人论坛 can be said to create 'democratic value' through
its provision of trusted and impartial news and information that help
to underpin and sustain an informed democracy.
Or the 成人论坛 can be said to create 'cultural value' by bringing together
talent and audiences to break new ground together.
We've identified other values too: educational value, social and community
value, and global value.
Our services to the nations and regions contribute to all of these.
Our news services are a prime example. The 成人论坛 has 3,000 journalists
stationed across the UK outside London, reflecting communities to themselves,
but also feeding into the main news machine to reflect those communities
to the whole of the UK.
On the cultural front, the 成人论坛 showcases specific regional talent -
and also nurtures new talent for UK-wide exposure.
Last year 成人论坛 Northern Ireland produced 255 hours of network radio
- including music, drama and documentaries.
Educational value is created by providing materials for the unique
curricula in each nation. For example here in Northern Ireland the 成人论坛
provides unique material for the history curriculum, while in Wales
it is the only provider of Welsh language schools materials.
Global value is created by, for example, injecting local content into
international news coverage - telling the Northern Ireland story to
the world for the last 30 years.
And social and community value is created by, for example, bringing
communities together to celebrate, or to share, concerns.
Audience debate and interactivity are key parts of the schedules of
成人论坛 Radio Ulster, 成人论坛 Radio Scotland, 成人论坛 Radio Wales and 成人论坛 Radio
Cymru.
And there's more to come here. The 成人论坛 has been doing some very interesting
research recently about the way people actually live their lives.
One of the things that leaps out is that despite all the talk of globalisation
and the huge growth in foreign travel, most people in the UK still spend
most of their time within 14 miles of where they live. And where they
live is within 13 miles of where they were born.
One result is a hunger for really local news and information. News
at the city or county level.
The 成人论坛 has long been able to deliver this on radio. But high costs
have made it impossible to bring that degree of localness to television
news.
But with the low-cost digital technology now available, that's all
changing. So the 成人论坛 has now begun to experiment with ultra-local television.
Taking a small geographical area and producing ten minutes an hour of
truly relevant local news and information, available on digital television
and broadband.
And because it's digital, it's available on demand, around the clock,
whenever viewers want it.
The 成人论坛 hopes to start proper pilots soon - and if it works out, it's
proposed to develop up to 60 such areas around the UK.
By the end of the year Northern Ireland will be the first region of
the UK to have nearly 100 per cent broadband coverage and 成人论坛 Northern
Ireland will be piloting local TV on broadband in the Coleraine area.
The 成人论坛 is committed to bringing the localness to television that we've
all learned to take for granted in radio.
It's part of the Corporation's commitment to provide unique services
that fully reflect the lives and concerns of local communities.
Of course, in order to do that the 成人论坛 has to survive as an institution
in a form that allows it to continue to flourish.
Those decisions are not in our hands, but in the hands of Government.
But ultimately the survival of the 成人论坛 depends not on government,
but on our own ability to win the support of the overwhelming majority
of the population of the United Kingdom. That's not something we can
ever take for granted.
I'm so proud to be leading the 成人论坛 at this time of change and - I hope
- of renewal. And I really am delighted to be here in Northern Ireland.
The popularity of the 成人论坛's work in the nations and regions is proof
that the 成人论坛 is continuing to connect with people in every part of the
UK.
And the quality of the 成人论坛's work in the nations and regions is one
of the key justifications for the continuance of a strong and independent
成人论坛 able to deliver public value to licence fee payers wherever they
live.
Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for listening.
