Archives for September 2010

As the most comprehensive piece of research ever carried out in this area by the BBC and perhaps any other media organisation, it was not without trepidation that I took on this project. The portrayal of LGB audiences can be a polarising issue for many but I have a strong belief in the importance of fully understanding all of our audiences and in turn reflecting and celebrating that diversity in all the content that we make and broadcast. That is the reason why we commissioned this study and why in the past two years we have also commissioned studies and research on disability and how our audiences outside of London feel that are represented across BBC television, radio and online.



The BBC worked with research companies 2CV and Kanter Media to develop this study and we interviewed or surveyed 2,000 people from across the UK. To ensure that all voices and views were heard, we talked and listened not only to lesbian, gay and bisexual people – those who are already out, those who have just come out and those who were still dealing with the challenges and fears about their own sexual identity – but also heterosexual people. And again we subdivided – heterosexual people who were comfortable with portrayal; heterosexual people with children of various ages and people who were uncomfortable with any portrayal at all.

All of the participants of this nationally representative sample were given the same stimulus – both video and audio clips of content from a range of broadcasters – and were asked the same questions covering a broad range of topics. These included the level of portrayal, authenticity, humour and language, intimacy, talent and genre. We complemented this substantial study with a public consultation online, which took place online and yielded 9,400 responses. We published the full results of both the research and consultation online.

We’ve published the full results of the study on the ‘About the BBC’ site, so I won’t detail each and every finding here, but to paint a broad picture let me begin by saying that many of the people who participated were surprised with the level and quality of existing portrayal across both the BBC’s services and that of other broadcasters. The BBC fares relatively well with its portrayal of LGB people, but there is certainly more to be done. We also found that the clear majority of the UK population are either comfortable with, or do not feel strongly either way about, the portrayal of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people.

Naturally, we found that lesbian, gay and bisexual audiences want to see more, and greater diversity within portrayal. We also learned that context is critical to how all audiences perceive the portrayal of LGB people and that intimacy, both emotional and physical, is the primary concern for people who are uncomfortable with LGB portrayal.

This project was not about creating a shopping list, or ticking boxes with our content but there are clear commitments we are taking from this study. First and foremost the BBC has a commitment to achieve accurate and authentic portrayal across all our services. To that end we have already begun to share this research with content teams across the BBC. They need to be aware of the opportunities for both incidental portrayal that reflects LGB audiences in everyday life and more overt, landmark content and have the confidence to reflect the diverse audiences around them. What this research will do is provide the confidence, knowledge and foundation to ensure that creatively - and if it is appropriate in terms of the context and the genre – that LGB inclusion is considered and if it is included that it is authentic. We also commit to review progress following this research and consultation in two years. And finally, the BBC Working Group, of which I am Chair, will monitor on an ongoing basis the implementation of these recommendations on behalf of the BBC Diversity Board.



I want to thank each and every one of the participants across the UK for their time and candour and I look forward to updating you further on our progress in the portrayal of LGB audiences on the BBC.

Tim Davie is the BBC's Director of Audio and Music

This year, as part of the BBC's diversity strategy, we carried out research and consultation on the portrayal of lesbian, gay and bisexual people across broadcast media including the BBC. Read about the research.

See the BBC Archive's latest collection on the Gay Rights movement.

Read Tim Davie's previous blog post about portraying the LGB community on the BBC.

"In 2001, I moved to Connecticut for 2 years and while I appreciated so much of American life, almost every evening I would go to the computer after putting the children to bed and listen to programmes such as Today or In Our Time on Listen Again (as it was once called). On returning to the UK, I can recall that my first decision in this job was to confirm that I wanted our domestic networks to continue to be available for free online across the world. It did not cost significant money and there was no clear way to commercialise the services, so it was an easy decision to make.



On this theme, an article published in the LA Times this week not only drew attention to the strength of radio but gave a perspective on how Radio 4 is perceived beyond our shores."



Tim Davie, Director of Audio & Music at the BBC reflects on the appeal of Radio 4 abroad. To read his post in full and to make a comment, head over to the Radio blog.

Laura Murray is Editor of the About the BBC blog

Well, we know that autumn’s really here when another band of courageous celebs don their glittering costumes and take on the challenge that is Strictly Come Dancing! It’s now well and truly part of the seasonal calendar, and has successfully reinvented Saturday night on the BBC.

Strange, but perhaps not so strange, to reflect that 60 years ago on 29 September 1950, Strictly’s predecessor, Come Dancing hit the air. It ran off and on from 1949 (regional launch) to 1998, making it one of TV’s longest running shows, and its removal was greeted with howls of horror from British ballroom dance fans.

It boasted an array of really famous presenters too. From Peter Dimmock (the future mastermind of the televisation of the 1953 coronation) and Leslie Mitchell (the British Clarke Gable-lookalike presenter of early BBC TV) to Angela Rippon, Judith Chalmers and Terry Wogan (and you can’t get much more famous than Sir Terry!). Its over-the-top glamour – even in black and white – fascinated a grey and gloomy Britain still in the grip of post war blues.

But strange, because in Britain the public perception is still one of surprise that anyone – but in particular a man - can dance. And yet, according to the Arts Council, dance is now the top UK leisure pursuit.

It has also been at the heart of our BBC TV schedules from the earliest times. In 1937, the BBC had Charles B Cochrane’s ‘Young Ladies’ in full-on variety mode, glamorous ballroom dancers, plus a young Margot Fonteyn in her tutu. Later, dance was the staple of every entertainment show – even Morecombe & Wise put on the top hat and tails, and Angela Rippon slid (almost) effortlessly from serious newscaster to dance presenter via her high kicks with Eric and Ernie!

So, in spite of ourselves, we really have been, and are, a nation of dance lovers. We aspire to its elegance – remember Audrey Hepburn singing in My Fair Lady ‘I could have danced all night’. Cue the whirling of countless sequinned dresses and straight-backed men in tails on Come Dancing.

But not too much… John Sergeant could never dance but we loved his indefatigable insistence on Strictly Come Dancing that he would try and try. We want sublime dance skill, but we also want a little deflating of its self-conscious pursuit of poise and perfection. What Strictly has cleverly pulled off is a bridge between these two TV dance extremes.

So to paraphrase Bruce and Tess: Keep dancing, BBC.

Robert Seatter is Head of BBC History

The Strictly Come Dancing Costumes are on display at BBC Television Centre until 11 October

Read a blog post from Dave Arch, the musical director and conductor of the live band for Strictly Come Dancing, on the TV blog.

"I have been in and out of Broadcasting House studios and I can honestly say that committed, creative and talented programme-makers are everywhere. And we all want for audiences what we have always wanted: more - to quote Matthew Arnold - of "the best that has been thought and said in the world" - and sometimes, let me add, a laugh..."

Gwyneth Williams, the Controller of BBC Radio 4 and Radio 7 reflects on her first week in her new job. To read her post in full and to comment, head over to the Radio 4 blog.

Laura Murray is Editor of the About the BBC blog

I’m sitting here writing this blog because - as a child of seven - I was inspired by Tomorrow’s World.Presenters like Raymond Baxter told stories and did experiments that made me want to study science at school and take a degree in metallurgy.I broke off my PhD to join the BBC Science Department and in 1997 I came full circle when I took over as editor of Tomorrow’s World.

So the BBC set me on a journey of discovery that has shaped my whole life.And there are tens of thousands of people all over this country who have similar stories - of how particular programmes sparked their curiosity, inspired a lifelong passion, gave them basic skills or kindled an ambition.And today, when we launch the new strategy for learning at the BBC, it’s those stories that have inspired our vision.

We want everyone in the UK to have a story about how the BBC enriched their lives.Which is why our new educational vision for the BBC is simple:we want to inspire a life full of learning for all our audiences.

That’s because learning transforms lives, opens windows onto unfamiliar people, places and cultures, increases knowledge, expands the imagination, and nourishes communities. It changes people and makes the world a better place.

The BBC has been committed to learning ever since the first schools broadcast in 1924.And the desire to inspire and help and increase understanding drives much of our output.We already do a huge amount, but I believe we can do much more.

At the heart of our new strategy is the desire to unlock the learning potential that exists across the vast range of BBC output and activities – whether it’s on television, radio or online; whether it’s national, regional or local; using all of our specialist expertise, from News to Music, from Natural History to Sport, from Drama to Arts.

That’s why today we’ve announced a range of projects that make the most of the BBC.Wallace and Gromit inspiring people to create amazing inventions.EastEnders heading into the classroom with E20 to get teenagers talking about bullying.Michael Wood getting the UK to uncover its own history.And the Bang Goes The Theory gang presenting their own special ‘do try this at home’ science demonstrations – that’s what I would truly have loved as a seven year old.

Saul Nassé is Controller of Learning at the BBC

Read more about the new strategy for learning at the BBC on the Press Office website

"There's a common response when we talk about audience research: "nobody asked me!" But I thought it would be useful to give some headlines about what we're doing to try to find out what people want in 2012, and also give everyone on this blog a chance to comment on some of the early findings".

Roger Mosey, the BBC's Director of London 2012 has posted a blog about the qualitative research his team have undertaken ahead of the Olympics. To read the blog in full and to comment, head over to Roger Mosey's blog.

Laura Murray is Editor of the About the BBC blog

This morning on the Guardian's Media Talk podcast, BBC Director of Audio & Music Tim Davie talks to Matt Wells about the upcoming 2010 Radio Festival in Salford, which Tim is chairing, and Chris Moyles' outburst during the opening half hour of his Breakfast show this week.



Tim also talks about his thoughts around BBC staff moving to Salford and his plans for 6 Music.



Listen to Tim's interview on the Media Talk podcast.

Laura Murray is Editor of the About the BBC blog

The new BBC radio blog launched last night. It will feature links to blog posts from senior managers at BBC Audio & Music and discussions about BBC radio across bbc.co.uk. The first post is from the editor, Steve Bowbrick who wants to know what you’d like to see on the Radio blog.

Look out for a ‘live music and BBC radio’ post from Director of BBC Audio & Music, Tim Davie which was posted today.

To get involved, head over to the Radio blog.

Laura Murray is Editor of About the BBC Blog

‘I always think that impartiality is in our DNA - it's part of the BBC's genetic make-up.

Anyone who thinks differently doesn't really understand how the organisation works and how seriously we take issues around balance and impartiality.’

Over at The Editors, Helen Boaden, director of BBC News, defends the impartiality of our journalists after an article in the Daily Mail claims the BBC is biased against the Government spending plans.

It was great to be in Liverpool on Wednesday for an event in the fantastic setting of the Metropolitan Cathedral Crypt. The evening was presented by BBC Merseyside's Roger Phillips and he did a brilliant job of introducing performances by three very different local choirs. The musical talent really shone through and we had a good turn out, with a mix of creative and community leaders attending, as well as music fans and members of the public who had taken up BBC Merseyside's offer of free tickets for listeners.



The event was about showcasing the choral singing talent in Liverpool and celebrating the local winners of BBC Performing Arts Fund grants. All three choirs that performed have received grants from the Fund. It's one of the BBC's corporate charities and sits in my department, BBC Outreach.

The Metropolitan Cathedral's Cantata Choir performed traditional choral music, while Mersey Harmony treated us to such numbers as Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and the third choir, Hope Street Harmonies, gave a performance that was anything but traditional, with a medley of Madonna's hits finishing the concert - it was terrific to see such innovation and learn more about the ways the funding has directly benefited the choirs that performed.



The choirs also sang on-air earlier in the week to promote the event - and they also created jingles with BBC Merseyside's radio presenters.

The event was a great opportunity to meet some of the people who led Liverpool through its City of Culture triumphs and who continue to work to support the thriving creative industry there. It was also a good chance to offer something different to BBC Merseyside listeners. We not only held an evening event, but also offered a free drop-in singing workshop at BBC Merseyside's performance space during the afternoon. 

The BBC Performing Arts Fund is a registered charity, number 1101276. The charity (formerly Fame Academy Bursary Trust) was set up in 2003 within the BBC.

The Fund receives revenue from the voting lines of BBC One entertainment programmes that seek to find new performing talent (including Fame Academy, How Do you Solve a Problem Like Maria? and I’d Do Anything).

To date the fund has allocated £3m to fund musicians to help them pursue their careers in music. Last year, they awarded over £208,000 to 98 choirs around the UK through their Choral Ambition scheme.

For more details about that, check the website.

Today Mark Damazer leaves Radio 4 for his new job at St Peter's College, Oxford. Broadcasting House presenter Paddy O'Connell had the honour of conducting one last interview with the network's outgoing Controller who leaves the station in great shape with 10M regular listeners.



Watch a snippet of the interview below and see it in full and post a comment on the Radio 4 Blog.

Laura Murray is Editor of About the BBC Blog

I’ve been working on Ouch! the BBC’s disability website, since October 2005. Before that, I was already a fan of the main site, with it’s clever, cheeky and refreshingly honest articles and features. But it was the team’s plans to begin producing a disability focused, presenter-lead audio talk show which inspired me to relocate from Ireland. 

The Ouch! Talk show is fronted by two disabled presenters and most of the production team have disabilities too. Each episode is highlighted by an interview, previous guests for which include the BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner, quizzed by the presenters to make sure he was receiving all his disability entitlements, Adrian Mole author Sue Townsend, who has a list of impairments as long as your arm and is only too happy to crack jokes about her situation and Big Brother’s Nikki Grahame, who spoke candidly about living with an eating disorder and told harrowing tales of her teenage years, spent predominantly in hospitals and institutions. 

The show also features a regular news section, a game called Vegetable, Vegetable or Vegetable and music by a disabled artist. However it is often the less scripted, more free-flowing and general discussion and debate which grabs the attention of our audience. 

We've now made 56 episodes over almost five years and, as far as we are aware, nothing similar is being produced anywhere in the world at the moment. For the first time, funny, intelligent and passionate disabled people have a platform to discuss the things most important to them. It's not only about critical issues, like the on-going battle for access to basic services, but also the less essential stuff like how to find fashionable clothes suitable for a wheelchair user. When radio or TV tackles these issues, not everyone taking part in the discussion has a disability. That's the difference.

The Ouch! Talk show audience is 20 percent disabled and 80 percent non-disabled. This figure also applies to the rest of the site and is a reflection of the general population. We get a constant stream of emails, both from UK residents and from podcast downloaders in countries as far flung as the US, Australia, Mexico and Argentina. Most express surprise and delight to hear disability being discussed in such an accessible and entertaining way. Others use the show to practise their English. That’s fine too. The more the merrier. 

Before I go, a quick update on a previous Ouch! project. At the start of the summer, Damon Rose told you about our Dis Connected celebrity video interview series. One film was published each Monday for 7 weeks, with the last one going online on the 9th of August. 

Reaction from the disability community and beyond was very positive. Even the Ouch! message board regulars, the site’s most vocal critics, gave the series the thumbs up. 

The talk show and Dis Connected are but the tip of the Ouch! iceberg. The site is updated multiple times each week, with opinion pieces by disabled writers, cartoons, a round up of disability stories from the papers and more. Our weekly newsletter contains links to all new Ouch! content from the previous seven days.

Emma Tracey is a Content Producer on Ouch!

"This week it's the 25th anniversary of the Broom Cupboard - or 25 years of live children's presentation at the BBC. To celebrate, the BBC Archive is releasing rare out-takes and clips of all our old favourites, from past presenters to Gordon the Gopher and Edd the Duck".

Current CBBC Broom Cupboard presenter Iain Stirling tells the story of his audition for the job and introduces the new BBC Archive collection of CBBC Broom Cupboard video and photos which launched this morning.

You can read Iain's blog post in full and leave a comment on the TV Blog.

Laura Murray is Editor of About the BBC Blog

Pioneers of 1970 Radio Manchester Diana Stenson, Martin Henfield and Sandra Chalmers join some of the Class of 2010

Diana Stenson as she appeared in press coverage of the launch

• Hear from the former broadcasters

• Or read about our first day (and listen to the first hour)
  
  

• Editor's note - credits for the trail:
  
  
  
  BBC Marketing - Simon Lloyd, Terry McGrath & Helen Weeks; Agency - RKCR/Y&R; Creative Director - Mark Roalfe; Creatives - Dan Hubert & Amber Casey; Director - Mario Zozin; Production Company - Red Bee Media; Producer - Louise Jones;
  
  
  
  Production Manager - Emily Simpson; Editing House - The Quarry; Editor - Jonnie Scarlett;
  
  Post Production - Framestore; Flame Op - Jude Roberts; Audio - Wave; Composer - Tam Nightingale.
  
  

• You can read previous posts around BBC iPlayer on the BBC Internet Blog.
  
  

• Visit the BBC Archive's Facebook page
  
  

• Follow BBC Archive on Twitter

• Editor's note - the Media Festival Arts brings the arts, film and media industries together to discuss potential for commercial and creative collaboration in the digital sphere. Mark Bell will be speaking alongside BBC Director General Mark Thompson, BBC Creative Director Alan Yentob, BBC Head of Archive Roly Keating and Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt. It began on Wednesday and runs until Friday. For full details, visit www.themediafestivalarts.com

• There is more information about the BBC Academy and Arts Council England's new digital skill sharing initiative on the Press Office website
  
  

• John's first post, BBC Radio Manchester is about to be 40

• press release - Radio Manchester celebrates 40 years

• For more information about BBC Big Screens, go to bbc.co.uk/bigscreens

• A new design which is more fun to use, and distinctively styled.

• A range of personalisation features that let you shape your very own BBC iPlayer experience.

• Integration with your social network account that lets you add a social dimension to your viewing and listening".

During critical times such as now, for the United Kingdom, the BBC has an important role to play to clarify the issues for our audiences - to help them make sense of different ideas and points of view. The Spending Review is one of those times and our aim is to provide insightful, objective programmes and expert analysis to help people understand the context and the potential options. We'll look at where and at what level the cuts may be made and why they are happening now, ask what the key issues are, how the Government is dealing with them and what the implications of the cuts could be.

At the heart of next week's programming are twelve major regional television debates across the English regions being broadcast on BBC One on Thursday 9th September at 10.35 pm. The audience will include politicians, public sector workers, business leaders and members of the public. This is a good example of the unique ability of the BBC's regional and local services to connect with their audiences and engage them in a subject that is likely to have a direct effect on their lives. The debates will examine the potential impact of the spending review in their regions, exploring the decisions that local councils will be faced with and how those decisions might impact on jobs, services and local businesses. They will use as a starting point the results of a study commissioned by the BBC's English regions which brings together, for the first time, a range of different factors that determine how vulnerable a particular area is to economic impacts such as public sector cuts. The debates will be followed up on BBC Local Radio the following morning.

As well as the regional debates and survey next week, there will also be widespread coverage across the BBC's main network news programmes for the whole UK including a special focus through the forthcoming party conference season. Nick Robinson will be travelling around the country to find out what are the key issues on people's minds about the Spending Review. Newsnight will be offering its own special reportage and debate and in the following week the Today programme looks at the Spending Review issues through the lens of two constituencies in Sheffield.

Launching on Saturday we have a special website featuring the latest news on the Spending Review, Q&A's from our key correspondents and lots more rich content and analysis to sit alongside our radio and TV programmes. Click on www.bbc.co.uk/spendingreview. Moving into early October there will further debates broadcast in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and our specialist correspondents will look at the issues sector by sector. On the day that the Government announces full details of the cuts on October 20th Andrew Neil will present a programme dedicated to the Spending Review and there will be extended reports and analysis in our main news programmes.

This kind of comprehensive programming, providing real public service is what the BBC is here to do and we will continue to follow the story throughout the autumn. We hope it will help our audiences understand the full context of the Spending Review and what it may mean for them.

• Press release - Radio Manchester celebrates 40 years