A FRESH row has broken out over the future of a Scottish Six news programme after the UK Government launched its new BBC Charter Review insisting the corporation must look to “contribute to the social cohesion and well being of the United Kingdom”.
Sparks were flying after sources close to the review process were reported as saying that the Scottish bulletin was dead in the water because the draft Royal Charter, and the accompanying framework agreement, published yesterday, “required the BBC to have a UK-wide approach and to support and promote the United Kingdom”.
However, BBC Scotland said the charter did not change their plans for a news review, which includes a Scottish Six bulletin, and that two pilots will be produced by the team in Glasgow in the next week.
A spokesman added: “Work remains ongoing and we are continuing to do research on formats on our news output and expect to be in a position to reach some sort of conclusion before the end of the year.”
A BBC Scotland source said that the process was not “dead” and that a Scottish Six would be an editorial decision and had nothing to do with the charter.
Award-winning journalist, commentator and broadcaster Lesley Riddoch said: “The UK Government need to be made clearly aware that this has crossed a line in their interference with the BBC. It is not their business to make decisions about the content of a new programme and they have crossed the line as badly as the Labour government did during the Iraq war when they went to task against the BBC over the so-called dodgy dossier.
“They should clarify immediately that there has been absolutely no pressure on the BBC to drop the Scottish Six and given that we know that BBC Scotland is piloting it, and fully intended to do some variation of the Scottish Six, if it doesn’t appear at the end of the process we will know why.
“The comment that this is only an SNP thing is just so wide of the mark, I think a lot of people have criticisms of BBC Scotland output. It is intolerable to think the UK Government can dictate to BBC Scotland what it should do.”
She said the statement in the charter about social cohesion was “enough sabre-rattling” to scare off BBC journalists.
“The statement in the draft charter that the BBC should look to contribute to social cohesion and the well-being of the UK is just so annoying. The fundamental principles of the BBC, in the original charter, was to educate, inform and entertain, and even at the height of the British Empire when the BBC was set up no-one was trying to improve the social cohesion of the United Kingdom.
“It is impossible to define and it is those kind of phrases being banded about that absolutely are designed to make BBC journalists just work well within the margins of anything political. That is enough sabre-rattling to scare everybody off,” said Riddoch.
When The National put it to the UK Government, a spokesman denied any pressure had been put on the BBC and it was “a matter for the BBC to decide how and what it does” and added the charter “does not rule anything out”.
During the launch of the draft charter at Westminster yesterday, Culture Secretary Karen Bradley confirmed the reforms to the BBC will require greater transparency, the National Audit Office (NAO) will become the BBC’s financial auditor and fully scrutinise the BBC’s value for money record, and appointments to the new BBC Board – in addition to the agreed principle of a mix of public and BBC appointments, all made in line with public appointments best practice. She said disclosure of those earning more than £150,000 will make the corporation more “transparent”.
The Scottish Government said the UK Government’s renewal of the BBC charter had “failed to deliver” for the people of Scotland.
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said:”We wanted to see a charter which ensured that commissioning, editorial and funding decisions which impact on Scottish programming are made in Scotland and that Scotland’s interests are fully and properly represented.
“We had hoped to see a charter which invests in and nurtures the talent we have here and, above all, a BBC that finally catches up with the reality of devolution. Sadly, this charter does not deliver this.
“The BBC can still dramatically improve the programming, new output, and the social and economic impact of the BBC in Scotland. Promises have been made by Tony Hall about the future provision for Scotland, and I look forward to seeing these in the BBC’s annual plans and reflected in the new Scottish service licence.”
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