Lack of strategy and clear leadership could see British TV follow the US malaise unless radical new measures introduced by OFCOM and broadcasters

A new report by Oxfam, Polis and International Broadcasting Trust (IBT), released today warns that international coverage is in danger of disappearing from the British TV screen in the next four years unless radical new measures are introduced by public service broadcasters and OFCOM.

The Great Global Switch-Off is written by former BBC executive Phil Harding and argues that the absence of an international strategy and clear executive responsibility has led to confusion and complacency about the delivery of international coverage.  Recent research from IBT shows that international factual coverage on ITV has dropped by 75% in the last five years, with just five hours of such programmes on the developing world shown in 2007, and over the past three years a quarter of coverage of international issues has been moved off mainstream channels to sister digital platforms.

The report’s author Phil Harding said:
“The lack of creative commitment and the failure to translate promises about international coverage into meaningful actions means that British television is sleepwalking towards a global switch off.   From the credit crunch to migration to climate change, understanding the world around us and the forces that shape it has never been more important. The tragedy is that no one denies the importance of international coverage but at the same time seems prepared to do something about it. This report is a wake up call to senior decision makers to act before it is too late.”

The report was commissioned by the three organisations who are concerned at the direction British TV is taking and call on OFCOM, the Department of Culture Media and Sport and the boards of the broadcasters to urgently review their international commitments as part of the review of Public Service Broadcasting which concludes in the coming months.  They argue that the current global financial crisis and the climate change challenge show that the public need to know more not less about how the world is changing around them and that television remains the most powerful channel to inform.

The report proposes a 10 Point Plan to address this which includes:
1) Each broadcaster to be required to introduce an international strategy that outlines how they will implement their responsibilities in this area.
2) One senior executive to be named responsible for international content.
3) BBC World News to be broadcast into the UK.
4) Expand BBC iPlayer to show more international coverage from other channels with an electronic International Festival introduced in 2009.
5) A new system to measure the success of programmes.

Oxfam’s Chief Executive, Barbara Stocking said:
“The decline of international coverage is a real cause for concern.  We live in an inter-connected and dramatically changing world.  Now more than ever we need stronger broadcasting commitments so that everything from current affairs to Coronation Street consider their global responsibilities.  The British public are in danger of being let down by the broadcasters. We hope that the recommendations will be seriously considered and those that care international issues wake up to the world disappearing from our televisions.”

The report argues that a dearth of strategy is the core problem for this malaise.  While there are regulations for BBC 1 to show 110 hours of religious content a year and 200 hours of arts and music and new Learning Strategies can be introduced, there is no strategy for international coverage.

Harding interviewed senior executives, controllers, commissioners and executive producers across the industry who were very candid in their assessment of where international coverage is going. Comments ranged from no one knowing what their obligations are, successful seasons such as the BBC’s Africa being seen as a box-ticking exercises and one Executive Producer who said; “Without some form of compulsion from Ofcom and the DCMS then broadcasters will commission more programmes about freaks in Fishguard than they will films like China’s Stolen Children, The Transplant Trade and Dying for Drugs”

The Great Global Switch-Off argues that despite commissioners prejudice’s, international coverage remains important to the British public with 68% of people saying it’s their main source of news about the world.  However the commissioning process is “cumbersome, over centralised and micro managed” particularly at the BBC and Channel Four and often leads to conservative and formulaic productions.

While Channel 4 and BBC 1 and 2 are currently sustaining their levels of international coverage, factual programming is dominated by European and American subjects and features only 3 out of 52 African countries, with reports from these countries focussing on wildlife.  Latin America and non-Anglophile countries are currently not being covered by British public service broadcasters.

The report warns that the quality of British news coverage on TV could also wane if the licence fee is top sliced and the cutting of international reporting that can already be seen in programmes such as Newsnight, could spread further. It also recognises that television will remain the most important medium in this country for some time to come but that the growth in new media will bring benefits including a growth in international scope for more partnerships and giving ‘long-tails’ to certain productions.

Take action by emailing the minister for the department of culture, media and sport, Andy Burnham with your concerns on this issue here.

The Great Global Switchoff: Read the report

ENDS

For more information about the report or to interview Phil Harding the report author please call Sam Barratt, Head of Media at Oxfam on 07818 406050 or email sbarratt@oxfam.org.uk. A URL for the report for those that want to link online is www.oxfam.org.uk/globalswitchoff where Oxfam will also be asking for people to email their concerns about this issue to the Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Andy Burnham MP.

Oxfam is a campaigning aid agency that works in 70 countries around the world. www.oxfam.org.uk/news.

IBT is a media and education charity which campaigns and lobbies for high quality broadcast coverage of the wider world www.ibt.org.uk.

Polis is the media think-tank at the LSE and the London College of Communication www.polismedia.org

Tags: broadcasting, international, Media, report, television

This entry was posted by Oxfam Media Unit on January 19th, 2009 at 10.52 am and is filed under Media, Press Releases, You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.