Professor Jean Seaton, Professor of Media History who wrote a volume of the Official History of the BBC, was interviewed by Times Radio about the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden’s letter to the BBC on changing its culture after the Panorama scandal.
Talking about Oliver Dowden’s letter, Professor Seaton said: “I think the letter in a way ought to be a little bit careful because there is obviously another criticism that comes with the BBC, that it is too pro-government. I think we need an independent BBC and an independent public service broadcasting system because that is what has protected us from some of the extremities of America. He is simply wrong about outside London. Over 50% of the BBC employees now work outside London and the PSB system as a whole has Indie makers in Manchester and Indie makers in Wales.”
