Roger Bolton's Beeb Watch

Nick Kent is the chief executive and creative director of Oxford Films, which made this week’s BBC Two documentary "Simon Schama: The Road to Auschwitz". We discuss the challenges making an impactful 60 minute documentary which explores the Holocaust's broader historical context, the role of language and visual imagery, ethical considerations in portraying the Holocaust and the importance of public service broadcasting.

“We're living in a time when the BBC is in jeopardy, and what's at stake now is higher, I think, than it's ever been, in terms of what the BBC can provide.”

James Cridland is the editor of Podnews and a radio futurologist— a writer, consultant, and public speaker on radio’s future. We discuss the BBC’s Annual Plan, its financial challenges, the impending changes to BBC Sounds' international access, the intricate challenges of rights management, potential revenue streams, and the delicate balance between public service broadcasting and commercial imperatives.

“The only change going on here is that we're getting rid of the BBC Sounds app, and you have to use the not-very-good-as-a-replacement bbc.com/audio. So, if you're using a smart speaker or TuneIn, then, reading that paragraph, you would expect that you will still be able to have a listen, which is brilliant. But they've kind of hidden that under a bushel. They only put that on the website last week, but that's a significant thing, if that's what that means.”

Kirsty Lang began her BBC career in 1986 and worked as the Central Europe correspondent for the BBC World Service and as a reporter on Newsnight. After a stint as The Sunday Times’ Paris correspondent, Kirsty went on to present Channel 4 News. Since 2002, she has been a stalwart of Radio 4, presenting Front Row, Last Word, and Round Britain Quiz.

We discuss the BBC's financial squeeze, its plans to restrict international access to domestic radio services, the importance of BBC programming as a form of soft power, the broader implications of budget cuts on public service broadcasting, and what it's like to be the quizmaster on Round Britain Quiz.

“Democracy is under threat. It has never been so under threat in my entire lifetime."

Prof Stewart Purvis is the former content regulator at Ofcom, a former Editor of Channel 4 News and ITN Chief Executive. As the Vice President of the Royal Television Society we discuss: the RTS Awards controversy withdrawing an award for Gaza journalists, Stewart’s experience reviewing BBC Middle East coverage and the fallout from the landmark GB News vs. Ofcom legal case and the ability of foreign governments to influence British broadcasting.

"What's at stake is the future of broadcast journalism. The system is creaking, and we need to decide whether we're going to resolve some of the issues which have arisen."

RTS Awards:

“What I would hope would come out of this was, as soon as we've got some clarity about whether there is any connection at all between what happened at the BBC documentary and the entrance for the RTS awards, and particularly the rightful winners of this special award that those Gaza journalists should get an award.”

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown describes herself as a "lefty, liberal, anti-racist feminist, Muslim" who was born in Uganda and came to the UK in 1972. She is a journalist, columnist for The i Paper, and commentator. Yasmin is a strong advocate for human rights who supports Israel's right to exist while being critically engaged with its policies. On this week’s podcast we discuss the BBC’s handling of its withdrawn Gaza documentary, the challenges facing independent journalists in Gaza, the lack of critical journalism in the UK compared to Israel, the influence of pro-Israeli groups in the British media and the role of public service broadcasting and its responsibilities.

“Balance is used as a way of not doing its journalism properly. And I love the BBC, but …. I think we need the BBC to become what it says it is: the most trusted outlet. It is no longer that trusted outlet.”