22 May 2012
Following a recent enquiry by Nicola Solomon, General Secretary of the Society, Gwyneth Williams has confirmed that there will be no reduction in short story programming in the wake of an announcement that Radio 4Extra will have a further 30% budget cut in original commissions as part of the savings to be made under the BBC’s “ Delivering Quality First” programme.
From earlier news:
December 2011
Jo McCrum and Nicola Solomon from the SoA, Bernie Corbett from the Writers' Guild, Margaret Drabble, Christine Payne from Equity and Sheila Mitchell, Equity's Audio Councillor, met with Tim Davie, Director of BBC Audio and Music and Gwyneth Williams, Controller of Radio 4.
We gave them the full petition, which has nearly 9,000 signatories, and repeated our concerns that the proposed short story cuts are in breach of the BBC Charter, and particularly its duty to stimulate creativity and cultural excellence. Gwyneth and Tim agreed that short stories, with the use of the single voice, provide an opportunity to create great moments of drama and intimacy for the listener and that it is a versatile and flexible medium which can surprise and delight and encourage audiences into unfamiliar territory.
We repeated our concerns not only at the loss of half the short story slots but also at the proposed new timing: up to two years ago and for almost the last 40 years there were opportunities to hear the short story every weekday on Radio 4. Under the new plans the only weekday offering would be at 3:45pm on a Friday.
We believe that it will be difficult to give sufficient impact to the short story when the scheduling is so piecemeal and urged them not to cut the mid-week slots, which are of such importance to writers and listeners. While not changing the decision to cut the short story offering, Gwyneth and Tim reiterated their commitment to the short story and writing on Radio 4; clarifying that 60% of output across the year will be bespoke commissions with the remaining 40% largely new recordings of extant texts and some repeats.
They confirmed that they will showcase the short story on Radio 4 as much as possible and will look at new ways for listeners to have access to the short story including a repeat, where possible, on Saturday evenings. They also emphasised their commitment to the whole agenda of culture on Radio 4 and shared some of their plans for future programming and opportunities for new writing.
We also expressed our concern about the woefully low rates paid to writers for Radio 4 and Radio 4Extra, and they accepted this. We will keep the situation under review and continue to press for an increase in short story slots and better payment rates for radio writers.
November 2011:
Together with the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain and Equity, the Society of Authors sent a second letter to Mark Thompson, Director-General of the BBC, requesting him to prevent the R4 cuts to the short story. It is our belief that the proposed cuts are in breach of the BBC’s Charter and, in particular, its duty to stimulate creativity, cultural excellence and its duty to monitor the delivery of public services.
In our letters we argue that the BBC has a duty to offer the best examples of creative work that engage and delight audiences, break new ground and encourage interest in cultural, creative and sporting activities. Short stories, with the use of the single voice, provide an opportunity to create great moments of drama and intimacy for the listener.
We are concerned not only at the loss of half the short story slots but also at the proposed new timing: up to two years ago and for almost the last 40 years there were opportunities to hear the short story every weekday on Radio Four. Under the new plans the only weekday offering would be at 3:45pm on a Friday. It will be difficult to give sufficient impact to the short story when the scheduling is so piecemeal. The regular slot of 3 short stories per week (previously 5 per week) at the same time each day allowed for linked themes and creative programming. We fear that this will not work with weekend scheduling.
The BBC has a duty to foster creativity and nurture and support UK talent across a wide range of genres. Radio Four has historically been a major showcase of the short story, and provided opportunities to new and established writers and actors. Equity's Audio Committee, made up of members who work regularly in radio and other audio areas, is currently collating data on the reduction of budgets at the BBC Radio as part of an investigation in the threat to radio drama, which includes readings and short stories.
We believe that these cuts are symptomatic of a wider threat to radio drama by the lack of resources allocated to it by the BBC, resulting in the number of productions being reduced. We fear that, if the number of productions continues to drop, radio drama could sink below the critical mass that will keep it viable. This appears to be what occurred at the BBC World Service.
Finally we are concerned at the way in which this decision has been made. The BBC has a duty to monitor the BBC’s delivery of the Public Purposes, but this decision appears to have been made without any consultation or consideration of the impact of these cuts.
If you feel strongly about these cuts please sign the i-petition at www.ipetitions.com/petition/noshortstorycuts/, which currently has nearly 9,000 signatures.