Support the BBC Creative Archive

Danny O’Brien is keeping on top of the BBC Creative Archive story:

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It’ll take a lot of guts for them to really do all of this. The BBC gets its guts partly from its leadership, and partly from its public. If people give it the sort of excited support that see online for the wider ideal of the Creative Archive, then it will happen. There are people in the BBC - high-up people - who really do understand the Net and will do this if they see it as potentially popular idea.

If people expect a smaller, weaker, Archive, and expect a more compliant, fearful BBC that thinks more about cutting a penny off the license or aping the commercial networks than it does about providing a brand new approach, the ideal will wilt on the vine, and that’s exactly what they’ll get.

If you think this is a good - albeit unlikely idea - you have to stand up for it. If you think that it’ll never happen, and repeatedly say so, it won’t. Think about it: the Conservative Party is saying that they’ll consider telling the BBC to shut down its Website if they get into power.

Do they mean it? Hardly. They’re testing the waters: seeing how the public reacts to such an idea; seeing if it’s something they’ll win or lose a few votes with. Your response counts, because it tells them, and the BBC how the land lies.

It’s the same thing with the Creative Archive. It’s not set in stone what this will be. That’s determined partly by Greg Dyke, and partly by public reaction.

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This is the worry: with so many of the proprietors of Britain’s daily newspapers having little reason to wish the BBC well in this endeavour, the BBC will need all the encouragement it can get. A little political courage and leadership from Tessa Jowell would be nice too…