BBC Studios’ Post

Louise sums up perfectly what I have been been feeling all day. This report must be a gamechanger. Governments must stop dismissing safety regulation as ‘red tape’, councils must start rebuilding the inhouse skills and capacity to properly hold the construction sector to account and understand what they are buying, and stop outsourcing their responsibilities to and their relationships with their tenants. We are looking to this new government to respond with appropriate anger, resolve, and change but its not just on them - we must all do better and we must never forget #Grenfell.

🚨 We have today published our seventh annual report on the BBC. The BBC remains the most-used UK media brand across TV, radio and online. And our report finds it is generally delivering well against its remit for viewers and listeners. However, there are still areas for improvement. The BBC is still struggling to reach all audiences – for example, those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. We want it to be clearer about its overarching plans for increasing levels of satisfaction with the BBC among this group and, more broadly, how it is evaluating initiatives to better reach less satisfied or lighter users such as younger people. Find out more about how the BBC has performed 🔗 https://lnkd.in/espEe_tk

Back in the seventies "The Good Life" was perhaps one of the most popular British sitcoms on television. It showed a late twenty to early thirty something couple in Surbiton prepared to take on an alternative approach to Life, going against conventions of getting everything "one" needed through climbing the corporate ladder and making money, and ignoring what was being done to them and the planet by blindly taking that career path. In some ways it seems to me as though the scriptwriters were painting this as a curious or quaint idea, and contrasts with conventional neighbours as being funny. However the acceptance of "going for it" by friends and neighbours was perhaps a testimony to English culture at the time - and a good advertisement for it, despite anything else "one" might think, as long as not intrusive to their choice for how they wanted to live or doing harm to anyone else. I think.it was meant to be a play on Thoreau's Different Drummer philosophy (and, if so, a very good one!) But how seriously did anyone ever take the ideas about living sustainably and caring about the planet demonstrated by Tom and Barbara Good back then, or was anyone and everyone expected to see such thinking as just a bit of a joke or breakdown and not to be taken seriously at all (but unlike now, perhaps)? (And note that there were other TV series highlighting the ills of uniform British corporate culture too, such as The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin - but perhaps similarly commissioned to poke fun at anyone having a crisis of meaning or other form of disillusionment with it?) https://lnkd.in/e3Kg7Cnx

Moderation is under-valued and misunderstood. But it's what keeps social media from descending into toxic skipfires... This new BBC audio series from Zoe Kleinman lifts the lid on the people who moderate the web. Starting today: https://lnkd.in/ecuMA5uw #cmgr #OnlineCommunities #Moderators #ContentModeration #UGC #CommunityBuilders

I wrote an article about duty of care and Strictly Come Dancing, which has just gone live on The Conversation. In it, I argue that failures in duty of care are linked to challenging working conditions behind the scenes in the TV industry, and that quick-fix solutions don’t go far enough https://lnkd.in/eN-c4Uv5

"I just thought there was something wrong with me and it made me feel really different from everyone else." 💔 As someone who was diagnosed with dyscalculia at age 7, at a time when hardly anyone in my education setting knew what it was, I have been so happy to see the coverage on #dyscalculia on BBC News this week. It may seem like "just another label" to some, but dyscalculia really does go beyond just being "bad at maths". I was very fortunate to be raised by two teachers with a keen interest in child psychology, who were able to get me privately assessed. I know this isn't the case for so many young people and it hurts my heart to think of people going through the struggles and frustrations I went through, without any idea why. I guarantee that we all have people in our lives, whether they are children or adults, who probably have undiagnosed dyscalculia. Here are some of the top signs you can look out for: ➕ Difficulty in recognising numbers - Very often numbers will juggle around for me, or I'll misread them. ➕ Struggling to count - This is one of the earliest signs with the most common signal being relying HEAVILY on finger counting...and yet still somehow getting it wrong. ➕ Little to no number memory - Whether it's keeping score of a game or counting reps in the gym, it's basically in one ear and out the other. Remembering a phone number? No chance. ➕ Unable to recognise patterns and placing things in order - A very obvious pattern or sequence to a neurotypical person may as well be hieroglyphics to someone with dyscalculia. ➕ No concept of quantities or distance - It weighs how much? You travelled how far? It virtually means nothing to me. But I'll smile and nod anyway. ➕ Having trouble reading a clock - Now, this one has got me into bother MANY times over the years and is never met with much compassion. Just recently I went to a 12:45pm appointment at 2:45pm, despite checking the email. 😒 There are so many more I could list, but if any of the above resonates then make sure you check out The Dyscalculia Network. They have a lot of resources and information to get you started: https://lnkd.in/eg-Cn4uk Finally, I'd say if you come across someone in your day-to-day life who is just hopeless with numbers or can't seem to retain any numerical information for more than five seconds, please be patient. ❤️ Having dyscalculia causes HUGE amounts of anxiety, especially when people highlight how much you're struggling. I don't have any answers and I STILL don't have my GCSE in Maths (maybe one day 🤞) , but if you'd like to DM me about dyscalculia please feel free. Oh and here's another great video. This is one of the best descriptions I've heard of what it's like to experience dyscalculia from the ADHD Besties Podcast: https://lnkd.in/eUPwEbRE #learningdisabilities #dyscalculia #

"They see us as a risk" – those words struck me as I watched Muslims Like Us panel discussion from Edinburgh TV Festival - Supported by Screen Scotland. In our industry, it feels like we are often placed in a box, with decision-makers preferring what’s familiar. There’s a comfort in sticking to the versions of stories, people, and narratives they already know. The recent riots in the UK serve as a stark reminder of how we as Muslims are portrayed, especially in a post-9/11 world where we are often reduced to one-dimensional characters. Media reports continue to reinforce these portrayals, feeding into the same stereotypes that dominate film and TV. These depictions perpetuate narrow, often harmful views, rather than offering the nuance and complexity we deserve The industry’s reliance on the same narrow perspectives limits the richness of the stories that can be told. Instead of viewing diverse communities as a risk, it’s time to see the value we bring. The potential for more authentic, engaging stories exists if only we are willing to move beyond what feels comfortable.

As a journalist or publisher, I believe you have a fundamental responsibility to your interviewees (and audience) to allow their stories to be honestly reflected in your coverage. Gary O'Donoghue is a master of his craft. This vignette of his reporting in the hours after the attempted assassination of Trump earlier this month is a great insight into his approach. Listening actively and respectfully while resisting the urge to enforce your narrative should be a non-negotiable when out in the field. 99% of the content we consume these days doesn't adhere to any of the principles or techniques that great reporting is characterised by. Let's treasure the skilled, unbiased journalists that we still have and learn from them. We need more of this than ever to cut through the noise. #journalism #reportage #publishing #media #news

Just written an article for Broadcast asking why there are still so few women on comedy panel shows: https://lnkd.in/e_2fgT36 Behind a pay wall, so these are the key facts: 1. In 2014, Danny Cohen made what appeared to be a radical suggestion to some, that every BBC panel show should include at least one woman. He clearly envisaged that this modest proposal would be the first step towards parity, but in fact a year later the gender splitwas exactly the same, and the following year had only shifted very slightly. 2. And since 2019, the figures have actually stalled. 3. By 2007 both BBC Radio and commercial TV were ahead of BBC TV. BBC TV has improved since, but it has stayed behind BBC Radio (mostly Radio 4) and commercial TV.” 4. One of the frequent claims made is that women don’t want to go on these shows. But this surely is not a tenable argument or defence? If a show is so unpleasant that a woman doesn’t want to go on it, then is the onus not on the production to make changes? If an office environment operated like this, it would never be seen as acceptable to say: “Actually it’s just that women don’t want to work here”.

Worth a review! 🎯