Текст Лекции (изначальный) (Lectures of The Linguistic Culture), страница 7

The broadcasting media

The broadcasting media are divided into public and commercial (independent) sectors and consist of radio, terrestrial television and cable/satellite television. Three authorities oversee these services: the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and the Radio Authority.

The BBC is based at Broadcasting House in London, but has stations throughout the country, which provide regional networks for radio and television. It was created by Royal Charter and has a board of governors who are responsible for supervising its programmes and their suitability. They are appointed by the Crown on the advice of government ministers and are supposed to constitute an independent element in the organization of the BBC. Daily operations are controlled by the Director-General, chosen by the board of governors.

The BBC is financed by a grant from Parliament, which comes from the sale of television licences (Ј1.6 billion per year). These are payable by anyone who owns a television set and are relatively cheap in international terms (Ј104 annually for a colour set). The BBC also generates considerable income from selling its programmes abroad and from the sale of a programme guide (Radio Times), books, magazines and videos.

The BBC in recent years has come under pressure from government to reform itself. It has struggled to maintain its position as a traditional public service broadcaster, funded by the licence fee, at a time of fierce competition with commercial broadcasters. Internal reorganization has led to a slimmer and more efficient organization. But it has had to develop alternative forms of funding, such as subscription and pay services and must include independent productions in 25 per cent of its television schedules.

The BBC’s external services, which consist of radio broadcasts in English (the World Service) and 42 other languages abroad, were founded in 1932 and are funded by the Foreign Office. These have a reputation for objective news reporting and programmes. The BBC also began commercially funded television programmes in 1991 by cable to Europe and by satellite links to Africa and Asia; BBC World (news) – now merged with the World Service – and BBC Prime (entertainment).

The BBC is not a state organization, in the sense that it is controlled by the government. But it is not as independent of political pressures as many in Britain and overseas assume. Its charter has to be renewed by Parliament and by its terms government can, and does, intervene in the showing of programmes which are alleged to be controversial or against the public interest. The BBC governors, although supposedly independent, are in fact government appointees. Governments can also exert pressure upon the BBC when the licence fee comes up for renewal by Parliament.

The BBC does try to be neutral in political matters, to such an extent that all political parties have periodically complained that it is prejudiced against them. The major parties have equal rights to broadcast on the BBC and independent television.

Historically, the BBC was affected by the invention of television, which changed British entertainment and news habits. The BBC now has two television channels (BBC1 and BBC2). BBC1 is a mass-appeal channel with an audience share of 28 per cent. Its programmes consist of news, plays and drama series, comedy, quiz shows, variety performances, sport and documentaries. BBC2, with an audience share of 11 per cent, tends to show more serious items such as news analysis and discussion, documentaries, adaptations of novels into plays and series, operas, concerts and some sport. It is also provides Open University courses. The Labour government has approved (2001) the expansion of BBC television (digital) services by the creation of a BBC4 channel (culture and the arts) and two channels for children under six and over.

BBC Radio performs an important service, although some of its audiences have declined recently. There are five national channels (to be increased by five new digital channels); 39 local stations serving many districts in England; and regional and community services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. They all have to compete for listeners with independent stations but offer an alternative in news, debate and local information to pop-based local and national commercial stations. The national channels specialize in different tastes. Radio 1 caters for pop music; Radio 2 has light music, news, and comedy; Radio 3 provides classical and modern serious music, talks, discussions and plays; Radio 4 concentrates on news reports, analysis, talks and plays; and Radio 5 Live (established 1990) has sport and news programmes.

The role and influence of television

Television is an influential and dominant force in modern Britain, as well as a popular entertainment activity. Over 98 per cent of the population have television sets in their homes; 95 per cent of these are colour sets; and over 50 per cent of homes have two sets or more. Some people prefer to rent their sets instead of owning them because rented sets are repaired and maintained free of charge. However, recent reports (2001) suggest that radio (commercial and BBC) is now more popular than television, indicating that some people are deserting the latter because of its allegedsuperficiality. Nevertheless, television has an average viewing time of 26hours per week.

A large number of the programmes shown on television are made in Britain, although there are also many imported American series. A few programmes come from other English-speaking countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada. But there are relatively few foreign-language productions on British television and these are either dubbed or subtitled.

The range of programmes shown is very considerable, but they also vary widely in quality. Although British television has a high reputation abroad, it does attract substantial criticism in Britain, either because of the standard of the programmes or because they are frequently repeated.

News reports, documentaries and current-afairs analyses are generally of a high standard, as are dramatic, educational, sporting, natural history and cultural productions. But there is also a wide selection of series, soap operas, films, quizzes and variety shows which are of doubtful quality.

The recent addition of Reality-TV (such as Big Brother and Survivor) and similar genres has led to charges of a ‘dumbing-down’ of British television. Programmes are calculated to appeal to a mass audience and high ratings, which the television companies need to attract advertising and justify expenditure. However, a MORI/Voks Pops poll in August 2001 reported that 61 per cent of fifteen to twenty-four-year-olds believed that reality television helps to teach them about the ways in which people interact with each other. But rather than imitating shocking behaviour in the programmes they are grateful for the chance to learn important life lessons and skills. Television, in this view, is taking on a parenting and teaching role.

Competition between the BBC and independent television is strong, and the battle of the ratings (the number of people watching individual programmes) indicates the popularity (or otherwise) of offerings. But competition can mean that similar programmes are shown at the same time on the major channels, in order to appeal to specific markets and attract the biggest share of the audience. It is also argued that competition has reduced the quality of programmes overall and resulted in an appeal to the lowest common denominator in taste. The BBC in particular is criticized for its failure to provide high-quality arts, drama and news programmes, with a slide into commercialism in the battle for ratings. It is argued that the BBC must maintain its public service obligations to quality and creativity in order to justify its universal licence fee.

Voices have been raised about the alleged levels of sex, violence and bad language on British television, particularly before the ‘watershed’ of 9 p.m. when young children may be watching. Some individuals have attempted to reform and influence the kind of programmes that are shown.

Research suggests that the public can be morally harmed by the content ofsome television programmes. The Conservative government considered that violence, sex and obscenity on television do affect viewers and was concerned to ‘clean up’ television. A Broadcasting Standards Complaints Commission monitors programmes, examines complaints, establishes codes of conduct for the broadcasting organizations and has tightened its rules concerning invasion of privacy by broadcasters. The structure of British broadcasting, 2001nasties’ (videos which portray extreme forms of violence and brutality) have been banned and rules for the sale of videos have been tightened. Some 69 per cent of homes now own at least one video-cassette recorder. But British Social Attitudes 2000–01 suggested that Britons are becoming more permissive about the portrayal of sex in the media if this is relevant to a plot, and more permissive if it occurs outside a family context on adult channels, video and cinema.

Today, there is fierce competition among broadcasters to attract viewers and advertising revenue. But it is questionable whether an ‘entertainments’ expansion means more genuine choice or declining quality.

Digital broadcasting will increase television channels and may transform the medium into an interactive force which combines the Internet and personalized programming in one package. But broadcasters risk losing audiences and revenue as more people switch to the Internet itself as an alternative to television. In 2000, 25 per cent of British households had Internet access.

Oxford survey on internet use in Britain

The Oxford Internet Institute has released the OxIS Report 2007, the latest report in a series OII surveys that examine internet access, use and attitudes in Britain. A key finding is that a digital divide continues to exist.

The University’s Oxford Internet Institute (OII) has released the OxIS Report 2007, the latest report in a series of Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS) that examine internet access, use and attitudes in Britain.

A key finding is that a ‘digital divide’ continues to exist with retired users three times less likely to use the internet than students. Ex-users are most likely to have stopped going online due to a lack of interest and access, but non-users cited ‘lack of skill’ as the main reason for not using the internet. Internet users think the internet is as reliable as television, but those who do not use the internet trust the television more as a source of information.

Other interesting trends to emerge from the study are:

-- 17 per cent of internet users currently maintain an online social networking profile

-- 85 per cent of users in Britain use a broadband connection for home access

-- One third of student users have met someone online, and 13 per cent have met a person offline who they first met online

-- 93 per cent of all internet users send emails and as many as 60 per cent use instant messaging

-- 72 per cent of internet users believe that 'the internet can be addictive'

Dr Ellen Helsper, OxIS coordinator from the OII, said: ‘One of the issues that concern us most in relation to the internet in Britain is that we found that the ‘digital divide’ continues to exist. Men use the internet more than women for everything but health-related topics, and retired users are less likely to use it than students. It is important to know why this is the case and OxIS is the most valuable source for this type of information in Britain.’

OII publishes OxIS every two years to chart the changing attitudes and uses of the internet in Britain. The survey is sponsored by the British Library, Cisco, HEFCE, Ofcom, and Talisma. The OII, a department within the University’s Social Sciences Division, is a leading centre for the study of the internet and society, which focuses on internet-related research and teaching, and on informing policy makers and practitioners.

1. Answer the questions

1.What did British newspapers identify with?

2.How many copies of newspapers are sold in Britain nowadays?

3.What is the reason why the British continue to buy newspapers?

4.What newspapers are tabloids?

5.What kind of newspapers are mass-market?