Dear BBC Trust,
I would like to add my voice to the many protesting against the BBC’s planned cuts, in particular the cutting of 6Music, and to echo the many tributes and plaudits that this service has received over the past few days. To quote Jon Ronson, “The station is everything the BBC should be about: nurturing intelligent talent (both musical and presenting). Whilst some parts of the BBC (like BBC 3) seem at times nothing more than copies of certain independent channels, there is nothing out there like 6Music. It is a unique and very BBC station. Brilliant sharp, funny presenters like Adam and Joe, Lauren Laverne, The Queens of Noise, Phil Jupitus, Sean Keaveny, etc, have been entertaining loyal, grateful fans like me for years. These are intelligent people who aren’t afraid to be passionate about good, not particularly populist music. 6Music is the Radio 4 of music channels.”
I have long been a defender of the licence fee, as I feel that the BBC provides journalistic and entertainment services that the commercial sector cannot provide. I fully agree with Mark Thompson’s statement in the Guardian today, that the BBC’s remit is ,”To inform, educate and entertain audiences with programmes and services of high quality, originality and value. It strives to fulfil this mission not to further any political or commercial interest, but because the British public believe that universal access to ideas and cultural experiences of merit and ambition is a good in itself.” BBC 6Music, I believe, epitomises the BBC’s potential to succeed in fulfilling this remit. The way that its wonderful presenters are allowed to employ their own judgement and share their tastes has enabled them to make brilliant use of the BBC’s unparalleled archives as well as to discover and support a wide variety of new music.
Through the licence fee BBC has an incredible ability and a responsibility to provide a service to the whole population and not just to the majority. I sincerely hope that it will not betray the public’s trust in its willingness to fulfil this promise and that it will continue to support exciting and innovative media services such as 6Music.
Sincerely,
Hannah Swithinbank
March 2nd, 2010 on 14:00
And here’s mine (ha, look how we have the same opening) – the ‘rumoured’ is redundant now, though I did send this before Mark Thomspon’s announcement:
To whom it may concern,
I would like to add my voice to those deeply concerned at the rumoured closure of 6 Music. This is a vital showcase for new music, as well as an eclectic and alternative platform for BBC archive recordings of great artists. This is certainly not something fulfilled by any other BBC radio station (Radio 1 rarely provides a space for young and little-known artists, and nor does it have the space for the eclectic passions on 6 Music – Radio 2, meanwhile, is not of interest to me at all; I find it mostly dull). More to the point, much of this is not commercially successful music, so it would never be appropriate for a commercial radio station. By providing a space for passionate and committed music broadcasters, 6 Music has so far helped to launch the careers of many young musicians in a very short space of time.
To get more specific, I also work in folk and traditional music (though I write in a personal not a professional capacity) – something that many fans feel is woefully under-represented on national TV and radio (aside from Mike Harding, a natural fit for Radio 2). 6 Music provides a platform for young and experimental folk artists to be heard alongside their peers working in other fields of music, and provides a natural space for listeners to discover genres of music they might not usually consider to be their ‘thing’. There are few other radio stations that could offer young folk musician Jackie Oates on the same playlist as The Stooges, as recently heard on Gideon Coe’s show. (Seriously – this is brilliant!)
I would also like to make it clear that closing the Asian Network should not be an option – though I am not the target audience, the British Asian community is notoriously under-represented in terms of cultural programming on any network, let alone the BBC with its public service remit. As a reasonably regular listener of 6 Music, though, my personal sympathies naturally fall to making that the main subject of my letter.
Sincerely, and in hope that the BBC doesn’t start selling off the family silver,
Jo Lastname
March 2nd, 2010 on 21:56
Both a lot better put than mine. These emails need to be sent; joining a Facebook group in the hope it hits 500,000 members is not how things get done.
March 2nd, 2010 on 22:33
At some point, I suspect, the quality of the argument in the email becomes less important than the fact the email is sent. But you do have to send the email, because that shows the BBC that you care far more about the issue than joining a facebook group or using a twitter hashtag does.