BBC Online is meeting its obligation to commission 25 percent of eligible production work from external suppliers - but must make wide-ranging changes to the process, a review by its regulating BBC Trust has concluded (release, review)
The BBC has met the quota requirement every year since it was recommended by the 2004 Graf report. Last year, it commissioned external interactive producers for work totalling £20 million.
See more of our latest BBC coverage
or add an alert for future coverage of BBC.
But a Deloitte review in to the quota commissioned by the trust slates the system for lack of transparency, management, direction and value for money.
Consequently, the trust - whilst it is not raising the quota - has ordered BBC Online to “discuss with industry what form strategic goals for a quota system might take”, and to simplify the current process.
This BBC Trust review has been many months in the making - the BBC executive had already known the outcome and recommendations before Friday’s publication and has partly responded - it has already agreed to give the trust, after speaking with industry, a review within three months. The trust says the whole issue requires “urgent attention”.
Deloitte’s review (highlights):-
“The BBC is complying with the requirements set out in the BBC Agreement. However, the Online independent supply quota does not appear to be working well in practice. Whilst steps have recently been taken to remedy the issues surrounding it, both the BBC and the independent sector recognise there is a lack of: communication around how the commissioning for online takes place, clarity around how the quota is calculated and tracked; and, consistency and efficiency in commissioning practices. Most significantly, interviews demonstrate a strong belief in the independent sector that BBC online commissioners select suppliers to pitch for commissions based on the commissioners’ personal knowledge, rather than any rounded evaluation of who is equipped to deliver quality and value for money.
“There is a high degree of external scepticism as to whether reported performance is real or the result of an accounting allocation.
“Overall BBC Online expenditure is expected to go down rather than up
“There are issues with the management of the current arrangements that impact the value for money and quality BBC Online achieves for licence fee payers
“BBC Online has failed to provide sufficient transparency to the sector in terms of: strategic direction, emerging opportunities, decision making processes, and reporting of performance relative to the quota.
“An average commission size in FY 2009/10 of less than £5,000 and only 17 commissions over £100,000
“The revenues of the top 100 interactive agencies totalled c. £790m in 2009. In 2009/10 the BBC spent c. £20m externally as part of the BBC Online quota. Although the BBC will spend more on digital content (for example on those areas excluded from the eligible base), in absolute terms the impact that the BBC makes on the online content sector is limited.
“In this context, BBC Online’s c. £20m of ‘eligible’ annual spend lacks the scale to have as significant an impact on the shape of market as the BBC does in TV broadcasting.”
In my senior year I made a drastic decision, dropping out of my double major of Journalism and Writing Intensive English, quitting my job on the school newspaper, and deciding to not go to grad school the next fall. I needed something different. Something that made me excited, instead of making me dread the next step in my life.
My parents were less than thrilled with my decision. I had such a promising path! How could I just give up on everything I’ve worked for?! Like everyone else in my family, they didn’t understand why I started applying for Teach for America and researching programs for teaching English overseas. They were constantly questioning me (“What are you going to do once you graduate?” and “What are you going to be when you grow up?”) but I honestly had no idea and I didn’t want to jump into a graduate program and spend all that time and money when I couldn’t answer those most basic questions.
So I researched. And researched some more. And along the way, I started reading blogs about volunteering after college and found myself intrigued. Volunteering was something I did infrequently in college and when I did, it was either for a class I was taking or part of my job. So I took the plunge and became an AmeriCorps*VISTA when I graduated in May.
I had a cousin who did AmeriCorps*VISTA several years ago and he suggested that I look into it. When I started my research I felt a connection to what VISTA stands for: Volunteers In Service To America. VISTAs are different from other volunteers because we work the administration side of different nonprofits or government agencies that fight against poverty. In return for our work, we do not receive an income but a living stipend (which ironically puts us on the same level of those we serve: poverty).
While making the decision and joining VISTA was easy, it was deciding on where I would serve to be the problem. Would I stay in Milwaukee and be around my friends and the boyfriend I had? Or would I do the smarter decision and move in with my parents and save money? The flip side of moving in with my parents involved me having to move across the country to New Hampshire, a state in which I knew no one and had no friends. I knew I would only be making a very, very small amount of money and I knew I couldn’t afford the rent and utilities in Milwaukee, so I moved in with my parents. Now here, I’m working at both a private school with a huge emphasis on volunteering and a nonprofit that helps keeps students in the public school system on track for college.
But while my experience is very focused on the work that I do, it’s so much more. My placement is part of an umbrella program, so I am connected with other VISTAs in the area. Over the past months I have gotten to know quite a few of them and we’ve become good friends. We have a lot in common off the bat, they know what I’m going through on a daily basis and they’re generally wonderful people. So much so that when my relationship ended (the distance due to my move was just too much) and I missed my friends from college, my new VISTA friends were there for me and got me back on track.
As for the day to day, it differs; I can be busy working on activities for tutoring or meeting with students. Some days I sit at my desk and just work on a database, calling nonprofits about their volunteer opportunities. And, like any job, there are days that I just sit and dink around online.
Moving away from where I had lived for four years was really hard. Losing my relationship in the first couple months was harder, and not having my girlfriends around made it worse. But the friends I have made through VISTA are some of the greatest people I have ever met. We have been put in a situation where we make little to no money and are sometimes doing very tedious work. We make the most of it and with these friends I am doing so much more with my life than I would have if I had stayed in Milwaukee on my original path. I may have had to make some sacrifices and I may be about as far off the beaten career path as humanly possible, but I love what I do and I feel good doing it.
It’s all even made me reevaluate what I want for my life and figure out just where I want to be when this whole thing is over. Will I continue working in nonprofits? Maybe. Continue on to grad school and get a Masters in Education? Possibly. Follow my dream of seeing the world and teaching abroad? Most definitely.
Being an AmeriCorps*VISTA has pushed me out of my comfort zone and changed who I am for the better. For all of you college seniors who are unsure of where you want to be next year, I seriously recommend looking into giving back. (Editor’s Note: And here are a few more reasons why!) I know that this is where I am supposed to be for a year and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to find my passion and give back to those who aren’t as fortunate as I have been.
[A special thanks to reader Allison Keough for sharing her story with us. You got a story to share? Email us!]
Photo courtesy of AmeriCorps.gov.
Some Genes Like It Hot - Science <b>News</b>
Home / News / Article. Some genes like it hot. Regional DNA differences may be due to climate. By Laura Sanders. Web edition : Saturday, February 19th, 2011. font_down � font_up Text Size. WASHINGTON — You are where you live, ...
Samsung announces five NX camera system lenses: Digital <b>...</b>
Samsung announces five NX camera system lenses: Samsung has announced five lenses for its NX interchangeable camera system. The latest range includes a 16mm F2.4 pancake, 85mm f/1.4, 16-80mm and new versions of its 60mm f/2.8 macro with ...
Minecraft hitting iPhone, iPad iPhone <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net
Read our iPhone news of Minecraft hitting iPhone, iPad.
free rental agreement forms
No comments:
Post a Comment