Peter Horrocks, former editor of Panorama and Newsnight and former director of the BBC World Service, stepped down from Ofcom’s Content Board at the end of October after six years. We discuss the fallout from Russell Brand’s sentencing and whether Ofcom should play a bigger role in policing workplace culture in broadcasting.
A former BBC editor turned regulator, he reflects on what it was like working inside Ofcom, whether it has lost its “intellectual confidence”, and whether its new chair understands the broadcasting code. He gives his view on GB News and impartiality, whether the BBC is capable of scrutinising itself, and whether Ofcom is overloaded, or even conflicted, in its role. He also floats a radical alternative way of managing public service media.
We then explore the government’s Watch This Space green paper and the idea of giving prominence to trusted news on online platforms. Finally, we turn to BBC funding and priorities, and the future of the World Service.
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