#backthebbc

I feel I have to write to you to express my deep concern over your plans for the BBC. Jokes about the end of our most successful and well-loved public institution being a 'tempting prospect' do little to convince us that your intentions are honourable - that you are ready to act fairly and with an open mind.

It is very simple: we do not want government interference in the BBC. Surely, you must understand by now how unpopular any act to hamper its freedoms would be. I feel greatly frustrated that you are not listening to the public you are supposed to represent.

Could you explain what is driving you to pursue a line of action that is so clearly against the public will?

BBC drama trail for 2015/2016 - wonderful stuff and a very classy trailer!

Hey everyone!

You may remember that all the way back in 2015 I was posting a lot about Backing the BBC.  The original post was HERE but to summarise,

Currently, the BBC Charter, which lays out how the BBC is run, what kind of shows it can make and importantly, where it gets it’s funding from, is currently under review by a Conservative government that seems determined to cut its funding and capabilities to provide quality broadcasting and information services to the UK and abroad! 

 The BBC has always been supportive of fan communities. They’re active at ComicCon and in other fan spaces, are grateful to ficcer and fanartists for their engagement and don’t come after creative fans for their content. These reforms are about money and power but the BBC has always been about passion and creativity, just like fandom.

A very active campaign has been organised by the Save the BBC group (you can read about their work here: http://saveourbbc.net/) and it’s doing its best to raise awareness of the danger the BBC faces from ongoing cuts and the Charter Review.  

This weekend (15-17 Jan) they need our help! They’re launching the hashtag - #BBC♥ofUK and they want fandom to join in by tweeting or tumblring about what the BBC means to them, their favourite TV/radio shows, the best BBC characters, whatever you want to say about the BBC basically.  Feel free to use pics and gifs and be as creative as you want.  The BBC is at the heart of so many of our fandoms, let’s celebrate that!

Please share this post and remember to tweet if you can!

Hashtags:   #BBC♥ofUK and #saveourBBC   -  (because it’s been pointed out that the heart doesn’t always appear in the hashtag, so at least the saveourBBC one will get picked up if the other doesn’t)

You can also find the campaign group here on tumblr: http://save-our-bbc.tumblr.com/ and follow them on twitter:  @SaveOurBBC_CIC

Ok lovely tumblr peeps, you may have seen this going round. The government's BBC consultation is basically as complex as they can make it, no doubt to discourage people from bothering to have their say. But the lovely 38 Degrees have made it simple AND IT COUNTS TOWARDS THE GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION.  Submissions to the consultation have been pretty low and this will be used to show that people do not care that much about the BBC.

So if you are from the UK, and you haven’t yet done it, please PLEASE take the time to fill it in.  The consultation closes in just a few days and this is the BBC we're talking about. All they want is your opinion on it, whether you love it or hate it you pay the license fee and you should get a say in what happens to the institution you pay for.  

If people genuinely can’t afford the license fee, that is, I feel, perhaps not so much an argument against the license fee itself, but rather more an argument for something of a reform in the way it’s arranged - perhaps you’d be better off doing it in brackets? Say, 20p a day for people with an annual income between X and Y, 40p a day for those with an income of M and N, 60p a day between R and S, and so on and so forth. I mean, I’m not an expert on tax and the way that is arranged, but I think that is probably an avenue worth exploring. 

People also often say that they don’t use the BBC, at all, which is something that I struggle to believe. With the amount of content being produced, I am surprised to hear that people don’t ever avail of it; maybe they don’t watch any of the TV programmes produced, but never having listened to the radio stations, or ever used any of the websites? That seems a bit of a stretch. (On a related note: I recently found out that BBC iPlayer produces it’s own original content. Isn’t that cool?)

But, okay, sure. Maybe they don’t ever use any of the content produced by the BBC. Maybe they’ve never ever read a news story from the BBC website, even. (But, you know, why not? I mean, it is there, and if you’re paying for it, you should at least try and get some use out of it.) And the thing they’re most bothered about is being forced to pay 40p - a whole forty pence! - each day for something other people use and enjoy. 40p for an independent broadcaster, that caters towards the whole country. Diabolical.

I’m being a bit facetious there, but in all seriousness, I wonder if people are annoyed about their tax money paying for the maintenance of roads they’ll never drive on? Or paying for the education of children they’ll never meet?

Yes, you are “forced” to pay the license fee. But for the little amount of money that it is, and the benefit that it brings to people, it is still worth paying.