BBC boss speaks of more local news

Mar 1 2008 by Martin Shipton, Western Mail

A SENIOR BBC official has sought to neutralise concerns about the Corporation’s Welsh future, predicting that a process of “internal devolution” will make it even stronger.

Last October, following a disappointing licence fee settlement, the BBC announced there would be 155 job cuts in Wales and that it would consider selling its Welsh headquarters at Llandaff.

Since then, however, BBC Wales Controller Menna Richards has predicted there will be more, not fewer, journalists employed here because of the launch of the BBC Local service.

Serious concerns have also been expressed that political and other events in Wales have not been given sufficient prominence by BBC network news. And last year the BBC commissioned an investigation, whose report is awaited.

Now Pat Loughrey, the BBC’s Director of Nations and Regions, has delivered an upbeat message about the future of BBC Wales, while refusing to discount the prospect of a move from its current headquarters.

In a speech at the University of Wales Cardiff’s School of Management, where his audience included Heritage Minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas, Mr Loughrey said, “We need to be crystal clear about the BBC’s mission and public purpose. Modern media may be globalising, but paradoxically there’s probably never been a time when the immediacy of tone and content mattered more. The only bulwark against mid-Atlanticism, and its sibling globalisation, is local relevance.

“I believe the public want a BBC which feels closer rather than distant, which feels part of their world, which offers them perspectives and voices that feel recognisably like their own.”

He added, “We need to be unapologetic about our core mission, to report and reflect each of the UK’s nations. It’s what the BBC is for. If we were to shy away from this commitment, I don’t believe audiences would forgive us.”

Mr Loughrey went on to discuss the implications for Wales of the BBC’s Creative Future strategy, announced last year.

He said, “In it we talked openly about the need to focus on fewer, bigger, better programmes and projects. Doing less – but doing it better. Not just because money is tight, but because our audiences don’t measure the BBC’s value by the quantity produced, but by its quality, distinctiveness, impact and longevity. Coal House is a great example.

“I want to stress that we are committed to delivering outstanding content across all platforms and, here in Wales, in both languages. But our decision making should be focused on editorial impact rather than the number of hours.”

Mr Loughrey said there was “an irreversible shift” occurring in the physical centre of gravity in the BBC. He said, “A few short years ago, three quarters of the BBC’s UK estate by area was in London, and only a quarter in the rest of the country; 80% of spend where only 20% of the audience lived.

“By the time our plans are complete, more than half the estate will be outside London.

“There are ambitious targets for commissioners from the nations and regions: for instance, our pledge to grow network commissions from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to 17% of the total of relevant spend.”

On the issue of moving from the existing Llandaff studios, Mr Loughrey said, “BBC Wales’ property needs to ensure it’s fit for the years to come. Llandaff has served us well, but it’s creaking. One of the projects Menna and her team are exploring is whether BBC Wales could come up with a property model similar to that created for the BBC’s move to Salford. The Media City in Salford, when it opens, will include our network sports department, Radio 5 Live and our two children’s networks, CBeebies and CBBC. That’s the first major UK networks to be based outside London in the BBC’s history.

“Media City aims to build a powerful creative cluster where the BBC operates, not in isolation but as a kind of lead investor, an anchor-tenant around which, it is hoped, the rest of the creative industries can develop and thrive.

“So could the same idea of a thriving creative cluster work here in Cardiff? Well why not.”