BBC plans to sustain citizenship and civil society. Please tell us how

Here's a story about how the BBC is developing new local multi-media services, its Charter remit for "sustaining citizenship and civil society", the closure of BBC Action network, development of citizen (or networked) journalism, and how the BBC Trust consults us on what the BBC is for. These developments and issues may be related ... I don't know .... but I think we should be told. But by whom? Maybe on the BBC Internet blog where they are exploring Digital Democracy.
My interest in these issues was re-awakened by a couple of e-mails in the UK and Ireland E-Democracy Exchange. E-democracy guru Steven Clift asked whether anyone has an update on the BBC Action Network, which has been hailed as a civic media success story, but as I had noted earlier is due to close soon. Steven wondered if future developments related to a Press Gazette story about Regional newspapers’ fury at BBC local web plan.

Stephen Coleman, Professor of Political Communication and Co-Director, Centre for Digital Citizenship, responded:

The BBC is dropping/has dropped the Action Network. It plans to do a number of other exciting things along these lines in the coming months. The Action network (previously iCan) was always meant to be an experiment. The BBC is right to learn from experiments and change course if that's what seems right.

I'm interested on the e-democracy and civil society front, but also also because, with colleagues, I did some work last year for the BBC Trust when it was carrying out a review of BBC online services, and exploring how blow blogging could assist in its consultation. Here's my review of developments over the past year, which I've referenced in some detail in the hope that others closer to the action may pick up the threads.

The year-old BBC Charter sets out as a key public purpose for the Corporation "sustaining citizenship and civil society", but until recently it hasn't been clear how that might be fulfilled. There have been speeches by senior figures but no practical details. At the same time there has been a lot of discussion about the changing role of journalists, audiences and citizen content-contributors in a more networked world. See references below on both.

Then a couple of weeks back Controller of BBC English Regions Andy Griffee told students at Coventry University about a planned £20 million BBC Local website, which "features a map with direct links to content such as articles, radio and video for each region". The Coventry site Through the Looking Glass reported:

Topics covered with this new site will be news, sport, travel, and weather, bringing each element down to a local level. Commenting on the service, Griffee said that it will be available “anytime, any place, anywhere”, and later confirmed that regular exclusive news bulletins will also become a major part of it. While the service hasn’t been properly decided on by the BBC Trust yet, the reaction amongst the audience was largely positive.

The other speaker was Alan Kirby, Editor of The Coventry Telegraph, who described how they were planning their own web site with ultra-local sites divided by post codes. The focus of these sites will be user-created content that is relevant to more local people.

Griffee, sensing that Kirby was a little disturbed by the BBC’s plans, offered some words of reassurance, stating that the service is not designed to “compete with newspapers”, and later broke it down to the fact there are only 5 radio stations but there is 66 newspapers in the West Midlands.

Then, says the report, visitors both went on to explain that nearly all of their journalists are being trained in more skills, highlighting the importance of online as a catalyst for obtaining larger audience coverage.
However, the response from regional newspaper representatives, quoted by the Press Gazette, and picked up by Steven Clift, was less restrained. In Regional newspapers' fury at BBC local web plan the Gazette reported that while previous plans for ultra-local TV were dropped in October, this was a new "unprecedented attack". Ian Davies, development director of regional media business Archant, added:

The new websites will have hyper-local capabilities using geo tagging of content and mapping interfaces. What the BBC gives with one hand, it takes away with a huge skip on the other.
What a strange approach to public service media. Look at what the community-leading local press is doing in reinventing itself to provide local content and ‘connectivity’ beyond print; then take a huge publicly funded stick and swing hard to cause as much damage as possible to this vital organ of local comment and democracy.
This is not competition. This is BBC, full-bodied, unfair, damaging to existing emerging services, competition. It seems that attempted demolition is the sincerest form of flattery.

As if the charges of unfair competition challenge aren't enough, there are those who feel the BBC shouldn't be in the sustainable citizenship and civil society business anyway. Janet Daly, writing in the Telegraph last December attacks the vision of the chairman of the BBC Trust Sir Michael Lyons. Janet writes:

As Sir Michael put it in a speech last month, the BBC is being "challenged to play its part in reinforcing social cohesion in an increasingly diverse society". He went on to give his personal commitment to that objective in these terms: "All of my previous work has convinced me that diversity both within and between local communities is a source of strength rather than weakness - and that the UK will become stronger the more it recognises and builds on that diversity. The BBC can and should help with this."
Whether you agree with those sentiments is neither here nor there. Who precisely is Sir Michael, not to say all those hundreds of faceless programme producers, writers and editors, to decide that the UK will become stronger if it embraces diversity? Who elected them?
Sir Michael's account of the BBC's mission is explicitly, tendentiously and presumptuously political. Whether licence fee payers believe that their country will become stronger "the more it recognises and builds on" diversity is a matter between them and their mandated government. It is entirely inappropriate for the BBC to enforce a particular systematic view of how society should develop and how, as Sir Michael himself notes, its rapidly changing structure should be addressed.
Engaging in a clash of overtly political objectives is properly the business of political parties or opposing lobby groups, not a supposedly neutral, publicly subsidised broadcaster.

I hope you'll see from all this that the BBC Charter public service remit for "Sustaining citizenship and civil society" - and how it is fulfilled - is potentially relevant to all aspects of democracy, local and national. It could also influence the way that journalists, bloggers and anyone aiming to publish content of public interest is able to do so, and get a wide audience.
The BBC Trust, who act on our behalf, don't currently provide us with anywhere to discuss these issues, except through rather formal consultation processes ... which aren't online. I believe they are considering doing more following earlier explorations with bloggers. Meanwhile the BBC managers and journalists, through a widening range of blogs, including The Editors and BBC Internet, are engaging directly with the rest of us ... but are understandably tentative in dealing with policy issues.
I think that the plans for local news sites, trailed by Andy Griffee, provide a great opportunity for the BBC and BBC Trust to engage with license payers on just what "sustaining citizenship and civil society" really means. But who will help convene that engagement? I wonder if Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the RSA, might be tempted. He gave a cracking keynote at the 2006 e-edemocracy conference, and is following through strongly in promoting RSA Networks for civic innovation.
Anyway, I'll be interested to see whether my modest attempt here at agenda-setting-by-blogging raises any interest. I'll have to email a few of those quoted ... because the problem with this citizen journalism stuff is few people know you are doing it. Of course, that may change.

Here's some background
The BBC Charter, Charter Review site, BBC Trust consultations, and the BBC governors archive site.
About the BBC: Purpose and values, sets out how the BBC creates public value in six ways, of which the first is "Sustaining citizenship and civil society: the BBC supports civic life and national debate by providing trusted and impartial news and information that helps citizens make sense of the world and encourages them to engage with it."
The BBC and Civil Society: address to the NCVO by then BBC chairman Michael Grade. October 2006.

The challenge for e-democratisers: deliberation as well as demands. Matthew Taylor reported on this blog Nov 17 2006

Audience isn't audience any more. It's online. How TV audiences are now contributors, and what this means for consultation about BBC development. This blog, July 30 2007.

Reaching out to bloggers? Admit limited transliteracy. How the BBC Trust engaged with bloggers in its bbc.co.uk review consultation, on this blog. Oct 23 2007

Citizen regulators: BBC Trust reaches out through blogs in its review of bbc.co.uk. Anthony Mayfield on the BBC Trust process. Oct 28 2007

Networked journalism: For the people and with the people: Charlie Beckett in the Press Gazette says the idea of the professional journalist and amateur working to create a new kind of news is the future.... Networked journalism is where the people formerly known as the audience contribute to the whole editorial process. The public write blogs, take pictures, gather information and comment as part of newsgathering and publishing. The professional journalists become filters, connectors, facilitators and editors. Oct 18 2007.

The pro-am approach to news gathering. Jeff Jarvis: As news organisations inexorably shrink along with their audiences, revenue and staffs, I believe that one way for journalism itself to expand is through collaboration with the communities it covers. Oct 22 2007

A civic media success story: examining the BBC Action Network. MIT Center for Future Civic Media Nov 3 2007

What the BBC is for. Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, Royal Television Society Fleming Memorial Lecture. The BBC has to develop better ways of covering the issues that resonate with those of its audiences who do not necessarily see the traditional institutions as fully reflecting and representing their concerns. Nov 1 2008
What's the role of trustees now we are networked? How the new BBC Internet blog give us a direct connection with those developing BBC services, and issues this raises about the role of BBC trustees. This blog, Nov 11 2007.

TV voting scandals and poor e-democracy both destroy trust. Interview with Professor Stephen Coleman, this blog, November 12 2007

BBC should not decide how society develops. Janet Day, Telegraph.co.uk. Dec 17 2007.
BBC News: The Editors. Mark Thompson, Director General: We want to take our coverage of Westminster, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the European Parliament, as well as local councils up and down the land and turn them into the most engaging, the most creative multimedia portal for democracy in the world, using BBC Parliament and our other television, networks, radio, the web and mobile. Direct access to information about your MP or representative: how they vote, what they stand for, how you can contact them. Survival guides and in-depth analysis of current debates and current legislation. Easy ways, for anyone who wants to, to plug into and take part in the debate. And all of it available to every secondary school in the UK as part of a strengthened commitment by BBC Learning to supporting citizenship and modern media literacy.
We don’t want to do all this on our own, but in partnership with some of the existing sites which are pioneering web democracy – and with the democratic institutions themselves. Parliament and its sister institutions already have powerful forms of scrutiny and accountability that, to be honest, very few people outside their walls know anything about. We want to work with them to change that. Jan 15 2008.
Regional newspapers' fury at BBC local web plan: Press Gazette: The BBC has prompted a new rift with the regional press by planning a network of 60 ultra-local websites. Jan 28 2008

"Local is still important" say Andy Griffee and Alan Kirby. Report at Through the Looking Glass of Coventy Conservation where BBC Local website was showcased. Feb 10 2008

BBC Internet blog - Digital Democracy: Pete Clifton: The BBC's public purpose around informed citizenship means it must play a vital role in this area. We already offer more day-to-day coverage of our institutions than anybody else, but a dynamic portal that brings together the best of what we have in audio, video and text, the best that others are doing, something that is easy to find, searchable, personalisable and sharable, feels like a fantastic goal. Feb 11 2008

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Comments

[Charlie Beckett]

David,
Your post is a fantastic piece of work and very fair.
I am a huge admirer of what the BBC has done to edge towards what I call networked journalism. But I find myself (possibly for the first time ever!) sharing Janet Daley's instincts.
I am very uncomfortable with the idea of the BBC acting in a non-journalistic way to "Sustain citizenship and civil society".
Everything it does should have that effect, but when it starts entering in to community activism then it risks two things. One risk is political bias - not at a high level, but just at a routine level. It will inevitably reflect the liberal agenda of its staff. Is the BBC prepared to go open source on this? How will it deal with politically incorrect local groups?
The second risk is much more practical. Can the BBC really afford the commitment of resources that would make such as network effective and open? Should this not be the role of local authorities?
I agree with Stephen Coleman that the BBC should not give up simply because I-Can failed. But it was a strong indicator that the BBC does journalism better than activism.
This is a crucial area for journalism. I argue in my new book "SuperMedia" that the news media has the opportunity with new technologies to engage with the public in new and exciting ways. But if the BBC ends up squeezing out local newspapers, for example, then that can't be a good thing.

[David Wilcox]

Thanks Charlie for that great encouragement. I think one of the problems about getting some serious discussion on an appropriate direction for the BBC is that the issues exercise people in different camps, tribes, communities: journalism, broadcasting, public engagement, e-democracy etc. It's on the edge of a lot of people's maps ... and we need a new map. I wonder if LSE, RSA, Centre for Digital Citizenship, say, might offer to get together with BBC Trust - and others - to explore how this might be taken forward. I think BBC Trust is now committed to using online media for future engagement, but has to be careful it isn't seen to be influencing while consulting. Some neutral ground is needed.
Two issues: what sort of role should BBC have in local multimedia news, acivism, etc, but before that, how does someone stage a useful deliberation. All in the spirit of networked journalism, of course. "Supermedia" is ordered ;-)

[Charlie Beckett]

David,
That sounds like a pitch for a conference:
any takers?

[Alan in Belfast]

The BBC Trust's current consulation process is very formal and there's got to be benefit in allowing for a more conversational approach - even if it's just prior to the formal consulation mailbox being opened for responses.

The current situation is a bit like trading solicitors letters, without any recourse to mediation and face-to-face discussion. It's all a bit shouty.

As the Trust Unit seeks to facilitate the work of the Trust, engagement with audiences and stakeholders (large and small) could be more engaging - admittedly at a cost. But then you pay for quality. And the open conversations could help steer the production of more focussed questions for the formal responses.

[David Wilcox]

Charlie - I've now flown the conference idea with RSA over here.
Alan - thanks. Sounds if you know what you are talking about on the Trust front:-) Any other ideas? Could we mix independent event(s) with online interaction?

[Alice Casey]

Just a quick thought on trust...

The Editors blogpost linked to in your post http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2008/01/the_trouble_with_trust.html includes some very interesting stats on the most trusted institutions - showing the BBC to be more trusted than government. We are uniquely fortunate in the UK to have a media organisation with such a broad reach and which inspires trust and respect. (even taking into account the blue peter cat text voting etc!)
I agree that there are necessary reservations and guards that ought to be looked at on how far the BBC's public purpose remit should extend - but am nevertheless convinced that the BBC is uniquely well placed to facilitate some kind of truly inclusive national engagement process.

The key word for me personally is facilitate rather than dominate or control -how you get an institution to engage with a networked environment - that's a whole other question!

You might be interested in reading something Richard Wilson and I wrote around this topic for Involve's ParticipationNation http://www.involve.org.uk/participation_nation - Critical Mass is the title.

Great post by the way!

[Steve Clift]

I would love to have the BBC release their original iCan research. At the time it was some of the most extensive research at the time. We can all learn from their experience.

Say, here is my post about the launch of iCan in 2003: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg00081.html

What I found limiting about their construct as a public media host was the emphasis on connecting like minds when as far as I can tell, that is not a "market failure" online. I am more interested in connecting local people with dislike minds based on the common interest. Of course, I'd love to see the BBC take a partnership role and support E-Democracy.Org's and others efforts to connect local people online rather than see the BBC create local dead-end sites that attempt to corner the citizen-to-citizen interactive market (like most commercial media properties do who ban forum/blog comment links to external "competitors.")

I did notice that former iCan/Action Network leader Martin Vogel joined BBC Trust for a bit and is now an independent consultant - http://www.linkedin.com/in/martinvogel - Perhaps Martin can add to the conversation?

Steven Clift
E-Democracy.Org

[Adrian Monck]

David - there are big problems with the mission to sustain civil society, not least with the democratic process itself and the BBC's own non-democratic governance structure.

It could start sustaining civil society by offering a means for its licence fee payers to participate in its governance...

[David Wilcox]

Steve - your point: will the (monolithic) BBC really collaborate with others in the field, maybe chimes with...
Adrian: can the undemocratic BBC promote sustainable civil society, when the necessary ethos is so different.
This for me highlights the importance of attitude and culture in all this.
We know we need to do things differently, and that involves a mix of top-down and bottom-up. Charlie thinks local authorities should be the top-level route, but Alice reminds us the BBC is more trusted.
It feels as if we have a good focus on the issues. Time for a get-together somewhere (with virtual presence from Steve?) I've suggested over here that RSA could help convene. No response so far - other offers?

[alex]

David

Thanks for this fascinating post

I will do some asking around in Scotland and try to find whether the BBC here may have different views to London

On our local pages on BBC now for Edinburgh, you can click through to "fixmystreet" so the BBC is selecting partners already to encourage local participation in certain services.

Alex