BBC director urges resolve against religious campaigners
-01/03/05
The BBC’s director of television Jana Bennett has urged broadcasters to stand up to pressure from religious campaigners, comparing them to fundamentalists in the US.
In a speech at St Anne’s College in Oxford yesterday, Ms Bennett defended the corporation’s right to air provocative programming.
Her comments follow BBC Two’s screening of Jerry Springer – The Opera, which attracted a record 47,000 complaints and action from hard-line religious groups such as “Christian Voice” and the political party the Christian People’s Alliance.
“It is now easy for small numbers of protestors to organise what may appear to be mass protests,” she argued.
The speech also follows criticism from Shadow culture secretary John Whittingdale over Faith, a drama about the 1984 miners’ strike shown on BBC One on Monday.
Mr Whittingdale said it was an example of “institutional bias” by the BBC and that it should not be shown so close to a general election.
Ms Bennett’s comments did not relate specifically to this complaint, but addressed concerns regarding the BBC’s self-governing status.
The corporation now faces “more pressure than at any time since the 1980s,” Ms Bennett said.
However, she added organised protests from lobby groups and the public should not be allowed to influence programming decisions.
“We are not running some kind of Pop Idol competition in which the greatest number of votes gets a programme pulled from the schedule.”
Ms Bennett compared the BBC’s current situation with that faced by TV networks in the US, who steer clear of shows that might offend local lobby groups.
“American TV culture risks becoming polarised because American-style fundamentalists are activists in everything from media and politics to the books kids read in school.
“Giving these activists power to restrict freedom of expression is a slippery slope,” she added.