This morning I received this email from the anti-privatisation organisation, We Own It, about the open letter they have written as well as their blog posts and a tweet opposing the privatisation of Channel 4. As they state in their message, We Own It had also appeared at Nadine Dorries’ office to express their opinions against it, joined by trade unionists. The message runs
‘Today We Own It supporters showed up at Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries’ office to send her a clear message: stop the privatisation of Channel 4
We were joined by members of Equity and BECTU trade unions as we launched our open letter to Nadine Dorries. We are still collecting signatures, but already top trade unionists, the West of England and West Yorkshire Mayors and independent production companies have signed.
The letter lays out our case against Channel 4 privatisation. You can read the letter and see who’s signed it below!
The action was full of surprises…
Including Boris Johnson fancy dress, an unexpected appearance from Margaret Thatcher in support of our campaign, and a sudden outburst in which Boris Johnson literally tore up job opportunities in the nations and regions!
You can read all about it and see pictures from the day on our blog.
This fight is not over and there will be more campaign actions to come.
But today we want to say thank you to everyone who came along!
And even if you couldn’t make it, you can show your opposition to Channel 4 privatisation by sharing our tweet far and wide.
We know that when you come together with other We Own It supporters we can achieve big wins.
You and supporters like you have also been making your opposition to the privatisation of Channel 4 heard loud and clear. You’ve sent letters to your MPs. And you’ve shared YOUR reasons why Channel 4 needs to stay in public ownership. Including!
Caroline: If we allow this Government to get their hands on Channel 4, it will have far-reaching consequences for many and will join the growing list of treasures we as a nation value but are in danger of losing.
Irena: I totally object to Channel 4 being removed from public ownership. It creates thousands of jobs for our economy.
Jon: Channel 4 produces brilliant work, excellent documentaries and independent news – what’s not to like?
We saved Channel 4 before. Let’s do it again!
Solidarity,
Cat, Zana, Jack, Johnbosco, Alice, Matthew, Tom – The We Own It team
P.S. We are still collecting signatures to our open letter. If your organisation would like to sign or you can share it with someone who you think would you can email info@weownit’
I fully support their campaign to save Channel 4 from privatisation and was one of those who wrote to my local MP, Karen Smyth, about it. She sent me a very kind reply stating that she was also opposed to it and would vote against it in parliament. I’ve noted that the West of England Metro mayor, Dan Norris, is also one of the signatories to the open letter.
This isn’t about saving money or opening up broadcasting to private competition, although that’s certainly part of the reason. It’s because the Tories hate public service broadcasting. Channel 4 was set up in the 1980s to be an alternative to BBC 2. Hence it was supposed to include programming that would appeal to ethnic minorities, such a season of Indian films, ‘All India Goldies’, as well as the organised working class. Jeremy Isaacs in his book about his career with the broadcaster also included miners’ oral history as one of the kinds of programmes he wanted to include in the station’s repertoire. The broadcaster was also intended to be particularly strong on news. Much of this was dropped in the 1990s when the channel became much more mainstream. Which is a shame, because they did produce some excellent programmes which introduced high art to a mass audience. I particularly remember some of the operatic events broadcast, which really did much to make it more accessible to a mass audience.
But I suspect it’s the news coverage that the Tories hate. Veteran news anchors and reporters like John Snow do hold the government to account. When Snow resigned, right-wing Tory sites and blogs celebrated it as the end of a ‘liar’ or ‘SJW’. The Tories want it gone for the same reason they want the Beeb gone, so it can all be replaced by reliably right-wing broadcasters like GB News and anything set up and owned by Rupert Murdoch.
I wish We Own It every success in opposing the Tories’ grotty privatisation and in saving this vitally important British broadcaster.
Tags: All India Goldies, BBC, BBC 2, BECTU, Boris Johnson, Channel 4, Conservatives, Dan Norris, Equi8ty, Ethnic Minorities, GB News, John Snow, Margaret Thatcher, Metro Mayors, Miners, Nadine Dorries, News, Opera, Rupert Murdoch, West of England, Working Class
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