BBC, Media Society, Adam Street: Is the BBC in Crisis?

British Broadcasting Corporation microphone
in Broadcasting House (© London Intelligence)

Crisis? What crisis?

A very English debate.

Polite yet borderline fractious.

The panel?

All 'white'.

Men 5. Women 1.

Grey suits.

Grave faces.

Crisis?

The Media Society chose to debate 'Is the BBC in Crisis?' (Wednesday, 5 March).

Debating the future of one of Britain's most cherished publicly funded institutions.

Deep inside a private members' club.

In a cellar.

Under the Strand.

Debated coincidentally on a day TV licence payers learn the corporation plans to cut £100 million - by relegating youth entertainment channel BBC3 from TV to online.

TV industry veteran and BBC Trustee David Liddiment tries to reassure the 60 or so cosseted cellar-dwellers. To paraphrase Liddiment: 'Don't worry, the BBC is a vital part of Britain's national culture and will revive its mission to provide programmes scorned by commercial channels.'

Commercial TV executive David Elstein politely puts his pro-market boot into the BBC's public sector backside.

To paraphrase, again.

'The Beeb.

Over-defensive.

Licence-fee bloated.

Indulgent. Enjoying an "unfair competitive advantage" over commercial rivals.

Reform the Licence Fee. Subscription would improve the BBC.'

Strangely, the debate barely mentions junctures when crisis punctured BBC journalism - Blair, Iraq, the 'dodgy dossier' and the death of Dr David Kelly.

More recently, sexual abuse and Jimmy Saville.

Criticisms

But is there a crisis? 

Criticisms against a publicly funded national institution abound.

Of poor governance.

Dubious performance.

Compromised regulation.

Bloated executive pay and excessive bonuses.

Insipid non-executive directors.

Hardworking 'foot-soldier' staff but poor industrial relations.

Alleged cover-ups over safety.

Persecuted whistleblowers.

Alleged deception of families of victims.

But these criticisms rail not against the BBC. 

But against the publicly funded, yet privately run, not-for-profit company that owns and manages Britain's railways.

An organisation that faces a political kicking from Members of Parliament on this coming Friday (7 March).

So I couldn't help but think - if the good cellar folk want to identify an important British public institution in crisis, perhaps they should avert their gaze away from the BBC.

And take a gander at Network Rail.

The next time they board a train.

Beneath this BBC panic.

Lie legitimate wider anxieties.

What kind of institutions - banks, schools, health service, cultural providers - do we need woven into Britain's fabric? 

Publicly funded and managed, or private and market-driven?

Is the BBC in Crisis? A Media Society debate, hosted by Adam Street Private Members Club, 5 March 2014.

Brass plaque outside on front entrance to BBC's Broadcasting House
(© London Intelligence)

© Paul Coleman, London Intelligence, March 2014

National Health Service: Paramedics, London Ambulance Service, Trafalgar Square

NHS paramedics standby as police try to persuade an unidentified man to move away
 from high ledge in Trafalgar Square (© London Intelligence)

(© London Intelligence)

The man stands on the ledge. 

His back turned to the edge...and to the crowd around Nelson's Column.

Facing the police officer trying to persuade him not to step back, fall, or jump (Tuesday, 25 February).

The man, carrying a holdall, reportedly only speaks to police officers 90 minutes after assuming his precarious position some three metres above a Trafalgar Square pavement in central London. 

Police officers cordon off the area around the National Gallery's frontage.

Passers-by stand and watch. 
Take photos. 
Film on their mobile phones. 
Tweet.

"He'd have chosen a higher building, if he was serious about suicide," says one man.

- "Yes, he's obviously got issues," says a police officer. "Please move those children away, thank you."

Groups of young European tourists continue to 'arse' around - like this is just another piece of innocuous London street theatre.

Another recalls an attempted suicide scene featuring Mel Gibson in the film Lethal Weapon.

But this real life situation could end in serious injury, or worse.

NHS

Paramedics working for the London Ambulance Service, part of the UK's National Health Service (NHS), wait to see if police officers can successfully persuade the man to stand safely away from the edge of the high ledge.

Is his a 'cry for attention or help'? Despair or possibly, anger?

  

Paul Coleman, London Intelligence, February 2014

Viability Assessment, Lend Lease, Southwark Council, Heygate Estate, Elephant and Castle

Heygate Estate in Summer 2012 © London Intelligence

Elephant Confidential

Judge Nicholas Warren and his Information Rights tribunal face an important decision.

Is the public interest best served by maintaining the confidentiality of a commercially sensitive document, or by public disclosure?

  Southwark Council appealed to the tribunal against an order by the Information Commissioner to publicly disclose developer Lend Lease's Viability Assessment.
  Marked 'Strictly Private and Confidential', the document contains information calculating the type of new housing that could be built to regenerate the Heygate Estate in the Elephant and Castle area of south London.

Jeopardise

Lend Lease told the tribunal that disclosure could damage the regeneration scheme and harm the developer's commercial interests.
 Southwark Council leader Peter John says disclosure could jeopardise regeneration scheme negotiations between other UK councils and developers. 
The Information Commissioner says disclosure would serve the public interest by allowing local people to exercise their democratic right to fully participate in key local decisions. 

For the full story, go to Viability at London Intelligence.

© Paul Coleman, London Intelligence, February 2014

Heaven 17, Glenn Gregory, Martyn Ware, Jazz Cafe, Camden Town

Heaven 17 return to Camden Town

Glenn Gregory, Heaven 17 lead singer, and Berenice Scott on synthesiser

Padding along Camden Town's night-time pavements.

Passing small flats selling for penthouse prices.

Sadly, some crumbling Camden corners look lost, forever.

Camden Snooker Club on Delancey Street.

A favourite old haunt for younger cue eagles and gentle old men.

Demolished.

('Leave no trace...)*

Even the once trendy Blair Babes wine bar next door on Arlington Road. 

Derelict.

Boarded.

(...Hide your face')*

A passer-by puffs smoke from his 'Camden Carrot'.

A more resolute local tradition.

My destination - the Jazz Cafe on Parkway.

Scene of a raucous homecoming party for 1980s 'Synth Britannia'. (Thursday, 20 February 2014)

('Sweat my youth away').**

Party hosts?  
Heaven 17.

Martyn Ware on Roland synthesiser, and inspiration. 

Glenn Gregory, on rich vocals, and charisma.

Inspired post-punk, synth-futurist pioneers of the earlier British Electric Foundation.

Sheffield's finest, who glowed the hope of white hot synth-pop against the gloomy despair of concrete cold 1980s Britain.

A hostile Thatcherite era of social unrest. 
A country tearing up its industrial base in favour of a false financialised future.

A decade defined by 'succeed, or don't exist'.

An era that spawned the financial meltdown of 2008 - and, in turn, the rise of today's austerity.

But an era that can't be entirely dismissed as a basket case.

As, out of that mire, came heavenly music, allowing you to say...

...'Hello to my Soul'.**

Martyn Ware, Heaven 17, on synthesiser (where else?!)

Heaven 17 lyrics from:

* 'Temptation' 

** 'Penthouse and Pavement'

Heaven 17

Photos: © Paul Coleman, London Intelligence, 2014

Paul Coleman, London Intelligence, February 2014

London Intelligence: Level Crossing Safety after Elsenham - Letting children skate on thin ice (By Paul Coleman)

London Intelligence: Level crossing safety after Elsenham

Cars wait for a passenger train to pass over the road and footpath crossing at Elsenham station
in Essex. The parallel white lines mark the footpath crossing (© London Intelligence)

Letting children skate on thin ice

Network Rail says it is significantly reducing risks at railway level crossings in the UK. 

But the company remains tainted by allegations of a 'cover-up' over the deaths of two young people at a crossing in 2005.

Letting children skate on thin ice, written by Paul Coleman and published on the main London Intelligence website, provides an account of ongoing developments in level crossing safety since the fatalities at Elsenham in December 2005. 

© Paul Coleman, London Intelligence, February 2014

London mourns passing and celebrate memories of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela: South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, President of South Africa 1994-99

Nelson Mandela salutes the crowd and global TV audience at the
1990 London concert at Wembley Stadium. (Photo: © Rod Leon)

Nelson Mandela: A London Salute

Londoners began to mourn tonight's (Thursday, 5 December) passing of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, and former President of South Africa 1994-99, writes Paul Coleman.

But Londoners' also hold fond memories of Mandela's visits to the city that stretch back to the summer of 1962. Mandela came to the UK capital seeking public and political support for the African National Congress' struggle against the white-led apartheid regime. Mandela spent time at the Haringey home of Oliver Tambo, a fellow ANC leader. A lawyer, Mandela also visited the Royal Courts of Justice.

  Shortly after returning to South Africa, the apartheid regime sentenced Mandela and other freedom fighters to life imprisonment. Mandela spent the next 27 years in prison for daring to lead others in the fight against the apartheid ideology of racial domination and segregation.

London and apartheid
London-based governments at Westminster largely showed practical support to the apartheid regime - and the regime itself ran a major propaganda centre at South Africa House, the embassy building on the east side of Trafalgar Square. 
  But London also sheltered hundreds of exiled African National Congress members. 
  The city also became the home of the global Anti-Apartheid Movement that campaigned ceaselessly for the release of Mandela and his fellow prisoners. 

Mandela concerts at Wembley

Mandela's 70th birthday in the summer of 1988 was marked by the BBC screening the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute music festival at London's Wembley Stadium on 11 June. An estimated 600 million people in 67 countries watched the concert on TV.
  The concert included songs such as Free Nelson Mandela by Jerry Dammers, Biko by Peter Gabriel and I Just Called to Say I Love You by Stevie Wonder.
  Amongst other performers were Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela and Tracy Chapman.

Released
A second concert at Wembley, Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa, was broadcast to over 60 countries on 16 April, 1990. Mandela appeared and spoke on stage for 45 minutes. The concert became an official international reception for Mandela, who had been released from an apartheid jail only two months earlier.

    The above photo, taken by the London-based photographer Rod Leon, shows Mandela saluting the Wembley crowd and the huge global TV audience.
  Artists included Aswad, Jackson Browne, Mica Paris, Neneh Cherry, Simple Minds and Lou Reed.

Visits
Mandela, when 78, visited London as President of South Africa. In July 1996, Mandela's four-day state visit included a trip to Brixton, home to one of Britain's largest communities of black people. Thousands of black and white Brixtonians thronged the streets to greet Mandela. His visit also saw him dance next to the Queen and Prince Charles at a special party at the Royal Albert Hall. Mandela stayed at Buckingham Palace.
  in 2008, Mandela celebrated his 90th birthday in London, and stayed at the Dorchester Hotel on Park Lane. He also visited the Queen again at Buckingham Palace.

Statues and sculptures
A statue of Nelson Mandela has stood in Parliament Square since August 2007. A sculpture of Mandela, commissioned by the Greater London Council, was unveiled by ANC president Oliver Tambo beside the Royal Festival Hall on London's South Bank in 1985. Mandela's image also adorns the walls inside South Africa House, now the embassy for the free and multi-racial republic that Mandela sought.

Nelson Mandela House
Del Boy and Rodney, fictitious characters in the popular London sit-com, Only Fools and Horses - that first appeared on BBC TV in 1981 - lived in 'Nelson Mandela House' in Peckham in south London.

© Photo: Courtesy and copyright of Rod Leon

Paul Coleman, London Intelligence, December 2013.

The new Camera Cafe Gallery: Guangzhou Edge, Mengxi Zhang

A photographer captures the soul of a city undergoing many changes. Paul Coleman reports from London's newest arts venue.

Living on the edge

Observant and atmospheric, the photography of Mengxi Zhang evocatively captures the impact of globally driven change on the outer fringes of the Chinese city of Guangzhou.

"I decided to explore the edges of the city - and was wowed by the colours and beauty I saw," says Zhang (above), speaking at the opening night of her Guangzhou Edge exhibition at the newly-opened Camera Cafe Gallery. 

  Guangzhou, a city striving to carve a niche in the global economy, remains close to Zhang's heart, and yet distant too. She moved to Guangzhou with her parents when aged 11 and lived in the city centre for seven years.
  Zhang's soulful images show buildings and flyovers dwarfing outer Guangzhou's inhabitants, forgotten statues and slumbering dogs. "That was accidental," adds Zhang. "I didn't wait for people to appear."

Mixed feelings

Zhang's thoughtful photographs reveal much about Guangzhou and reflect her own  feelings too. She returned to China in October 2012 after an eight-year spell living in England. "I was trying to understand my mixed feelings towards this fast changing and familiar-yet-distant motherland of mine," says Zhang. "I heard the outer parts of the city were changing...and I felt I must go and see for myself."

New London gallery
A selection of Zhang's atmospheric winter photographs are premiered in Guangzhou Edge, a special exhibition that launches the Camera Cafe Gallery, a unique new arts exhibition venue in the heart of Bloomsbury, London's literary centre.

Near to the British Museum, and a popular haunt for photographers and many other visitors, the Camera Cafe combines a specialist camera and coffee shop - and now, London's newest arts venue.

Guangzhou Edge runs until Friday, 15 November 2013. Daily, Monday to Friday 11am-7pm, Saturday noon to 7pm. Closed Sunday.

The Camera Cafe Gallery is located at 44 Museum Street, London, WC1A 1LY.

Nearest tubes: Tottenham Court Road, Holborn.

Paul Coleman, London Intelligence, November 2013