New report: a BBC fit for the future

Today we’re publishing a new report; The People’s Charter: a BBC fit for the future.

The report brings together the thoughts of a huge 78,672 of us who shared their views via 38 Degrees on the BBC’s recent charter consultation between January and March.

It provides insights on what the public think about the BBC and its future, alongside detailed representative public polling and focus groups.

What did we find out?

There are four areas that came through clearly to us when asking the public what they thought:

1. People want to guarantee independence for the BBC so it is free from political and corporate influence and able to hold power to account without fear or favour. Three out of five people (59%) want to see a ban on former politicians and advisors from sitting on the BBC board, according to our representative polling.
2. The public want to protect our BBC through sustainable public funding, ensuring it is fit for the future.
3. There is a rejection of commercialisation – the public does not support advertising and subscription models. 1 in 4 people said the user experience would be worse if advertising was introduced across BBC platforms, and 23% respectively said it would threaten the BBC’s impartiality as well as people would have less trust in the BBC.
4. We also learned that the public wants improved accountability through meaningful engagement and clearer communication of decisions. The message we’ve repeatedly heard is the BBC isn’t perfect, but it’s ours. 

The research is very timely as the BBC announced just today the appointment of its new Director General, Matt Brittin. Last week Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy announced plans to make the BBC’s charter permanent, something our polling showed 44% of the public supported, in comparison to only 13% opposing.

At a time when trusted journalism is under pressure around the world and democratic debate is increasingly polarised, the UK faces a clear choice: the BBC could be weakened gradually through political pressure and financial uncertainty, or it can emerge from this process stronger, properly funded, protected from the politicians, and equipped to meet the challenges of the digital age. We know which side the public are on

The BBC isn’t perfect but it’s ours – and that means it works for all of us, not for politicians. This year’s charter renewal process must result in a BBC fit for the future. Hundreds of thousands of us are ready to fight to make sure it does.