Members encouraged to respond to BBC Charter Review consultation
As the collective voice for journalists, the NUJ has prepared a response to the government’s consultation on the BBC Charter Review.
We are now encouraging members to amplify our calls by making their own personalised submissions based on our response and the points below. The deadline is Tuesday 10 March. You can have your say by either:
- Submitting a response online: use this link and refer to the NUJ’s full submission as a useful guide.
- Sending an email: write to [email protected] with your personal experiences, views and priorities.
The NUJ’s response is shaped by existing union policy and an NUJ survey completed by hundreds of members working at the BBC.
Almost all respondents (99%) agreed that the BBC should always be universally accessible and protected from commercial and political influence. The union reflects this and other priorities expressed by members in calling for:
- A funding settlement that is sufficient to deliver quality public service journalism locally, regionally, nationally and internationally
- The retention of the licence fee model and no decriminalisation of non-payment, which remains an effective deterrent against evasion
- No advertising on the BBC and no subscriptions that lead to a two-tier service
- A more equal spread of spending, activities and decision-making across the nations and regions of the UK
- The reversal of local radio cuts to reach underserved and underrepresented nations, regions and communities
The NUJ response also reflects strong support for continuing the vital work of the BBC World Service in providing quality, trusted news to audiences around the globe. Earlier this month, the BBC’s outgoing director general, Tim Davie, warned that the World Service will run out of funding in just weeks with no future deal with the government currently in place. On Monday, the NUJ signed an open letter calling for the UK government to urgently resolve this.
The union also makes a strong case for structural reforms at the BBC to increase accountability and trust both internally and externally, calling for:
- Worker representation on the BBC board, with at least a quarter of board seats filled by employees from non-management roles - a change supported by 90% of members in our survey
- The BBC board and its chair to be chosen by an arms-length body to protect the BBC from government interference and guarantee greater independence
- No political appointees to the BBC board - a call supported by 91% of respondents
- Improved whistle-blowing procedures for staff so that breaches of editorial standards can be addressed at the earliest opportunity
For workers at the BBC, the NUJ response makes a series of recommendations, such as:
- Improved pay and conditions to retain experienced staff and maintain quality editorial standards
- Increased efforts to tackle the gender and ethnic pay gap
- More training opportunities for staff
- Further protections around journalists' right to report freely, without fear or interference
Read the NUJ’s full BBC Charter Review consultation response.