One objection to our proposal that the public should be actively & directly involved in the BBC is they, we, lack the necessary expertise to exercise such judgement. A few points from me on this.🧵 Report here for context: www.common-wealth.org/publications... - ThreadSky

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tommills.bsky.social • 6 days ago

One objection to our proposal that the public should be actively & directly involved in the BBC is they, we, lack the necessary expertise to exercise such judgement.

A few points from me on this.🧵

Report here for context: https://www.common-wealth.org/publications/our-mutual-friend-the-bbc-in-the-digital-age

Comments

tommills.bsky.social•6 days ago

Of course common sense is not always good sense. But a major reason why people are so often misinformed on significant public issues is precisely because of our broken media system, which very much includes the BBC, as currently constituted.

tommills.bsky.social•6 days ago

Yet we're precisely *not* proposing a 'populist' sweeping, ill-informed, atomised judgment on all the BBC's activities.

And all the evidence suggests that deliberative 'mini-publics', informed by expert advice, can very effectively adjudicate on complex issues

tommills.bsky.social•6 days ago

Some argue that journalism & cultural production are necessarily the preserve of professionals whose autonomy should be preserved. I take this argument seriously, but the maximalist position is imo self-serving & indefensible in a public media system.

tommills.bsky.social•6 days ago

Tbc it's not that journalists don't have a distinct set of occupational & technical expertises. They do. It's just that these do not include judgement as to what is or isn't a story, or is it isn't worthy of attention or investigation.

tommills.bsky.social•6 days ago

Journalists make *political judgements* in political & politicised organsations, & the denial of this obvious fact is pure ideology frankly, a necessary illusion, a 'doxa' of the field.

tommills.bsky.social•6 days ago

The only viable model for a public media system is one where the public themselves are able to exercise this judgement, which has to date been the preserve of an elite group.

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