Making programmes to do good
Last week, I wrote that the BBC isn’t a media company – we’re not trying to beat ITV or Netflix.
We’re a public service – we don’t just make good programmes, we try to do good with programmes.
There could be no better example than the Children’s Global Media Summit, which we hosted this week in Manchester. It’s a conference that happens every three years, bringing together the global leaders of the children’s media sector. I was extremely proud of my team for how meticulously they organised the three days.
One moment will be impossible to forget. Alice Webb, our Director of Children’s, shared a video of children reading out abusive quotes that had been posted anonymously. Hearing children say out loud words like ‘everybody hates you’, ‘you should just kill yourself’ was shocking. Hearing it in front of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, after we’d heard him state his commitment to reducing online bullying, made us all feel accountable.
The Government’s consultation on Internet Safety Strategy closed yesterday – we look forward to working with government to see what can be done to help.
But the industry can also change – everyone I spoke to felt that a turning point had been reached; from one where these dangers were either ignored, or written off as the side-effect of progress, to one where we feel collectively responsible for managing these outcomes.
Perhaps the biggest role we can play is to talk and listen to children. We can learn from them what they want from the media. And we can respond by giving them the tools they need.
The BBC announced a few. Own It is a new website to help under 12s understand and take control of their online life. James Harding, the BBC’s Director of News, announced a programme to support young people to identify real news, filter out fake or false information – with help from BBC journalists including Huw Edwards, Tina Daheley and Nikki Fox.
Richard Scudamore, the Executive Chairman of the Premier League, pointed out that companies often talk about the ‘challenge’ of young audiences, but that instead they should think of this as an opportunity – for new types of content, new skills, greater creativity.
Next year, BBC Learning and the Premier League will join together to do that. Getting active has huge benefits for concentration and retention. For example, Swansea Football Club’s mascot, Cyril the Swan, has already done us a song to learn the 8 times table. We’ll be launching our Super Movers programme for all schools across the UK in the new year.
Dave Coplin gave us all a reason to be optimistic. Contrary to those who say the robots will replace the need for humans, he said that we would work together with new technology – he singled out machine learning – to be more productive and creative.
What do humans bring to that partnership? Our very human qualities of creativity and empathy, he said. But he also mentioned that other very human quality – accountability, our responsibility to others, to future generations.
The BBC is spending an additional £34m on children’s media in the next three years, and we are aiming to play our part – with great content about British lives, and by helping children be creative and explore their world.
