5th March 2010

Welcome to IBT’s March newsletter with an update on our work and relevant news from the broadcasting industry.

IBT annual review
Today we publish our annual review for 2009-10 which gives a snapshot of our main activities and achievements in the last year. IBT is a membership based organisation so please read our review and give us your feedback. The review can be downloaded from our website www.ibt.org.uk

Young people’s research
The first phase of our young people’s research is now underway. Our initial focus is activists in the 14-20 age range and our aim is to find out what the triggers were for their engagement and what part media plays in their lives. We’re working on this with a group of activists recruited via ActionAid, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Plan, Tearfund, UNICEF and VSO. In the next part of the research we’ll be talking to the activists and their friends to find out the extent to which they are champions in their communities and amongst their friends and peers. The research will be published in September.

BBC Strategy Review
This week the BBC published its Strategy Review which places a new emphasis on quality and distinctiveness across the whole of the BBC’s output, and proposes a number of cuts to 6 Music, Asian Network, the youth services Switch and Blast! and reduced spending on US imports, sports rights and overheads. One of the major changes proposed is to the website which will have a smaller budget and a new set of editorial priorities, and be much more of a ‘window on the web’ by including more external links. The BBC has made clear that any money saved by cuts will be redirected to other areas including BBC2, children’s and international newsgathering. The strategy is now subject to a public consultation by the BBC Trust. IBT will be taking part in this consultation so if you have any views you would like us to reflect please let me know. 

Digital Economy Bill
The Digital Economy Bill is still making its way through the House of Lords. It should reach the Commons in the next fortnight. Since the Bill now includes a new, international remit for

Channel 4 we won’t be lobbying extensively in the Commons but will be emphasising to MPs that this part of the Bill is important to us. Although the Bill is unlikely to complete its progress through the Commons before an election is called, it now seems probable that the uncontroversial clauses of the Bill (including the Channel 4 section) will become law.

Television viewing on the increase
Despite the huge growth of the internet, television remains the main source of information about the developing world for most people in the UK – and television viewing is on the increase. The latest statistics from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising show that viewers in the UK watch an average of 3.75 hours of television per day – the highest figure since 1992. And take up of digital television continues to rise – with 91.8% of UK households now having access to digital television.

Unreported World 
A new series of Unreported World starts on March 26th with a report from Tanzania and Kenya. A new website will be launched, with more follow up actions for viewers and a special section devoted to ‘champions’ -  people who are working for change in developing countries.  See www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world   There’s also a new Facebook site - if you’d like to support Unreported World, please join as a friend. www.facebook.com/unreportedworld

Invitation to Channel 4 event
Channel 4 has reserved some tickets for IBT members to attend the screening of a new feature length documentary The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan which will be shown on More4 as part of the True Stories strand. The screening will take place at 6.15pm on Monday March 29th at the RSA in London and will be followed by a Q and A with the director Jamie Dolan and the producer Najibullah Quraishi. The film reports on the Afghan phenomenon of ‘bacha bereesh’ whereby boys are lured off the streets with the promise of a new life and are trained to sing and dance for male audiences and then allegedly traded for sexual favours. If you’d like to attend please contact more4events@channel4.co.uk and mention IBT in your email.