> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of Phil Gyford > Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 10:01 AM > To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk > Subject: Re: [backstage] Thoughts from a previous BBC employee > > On 10/8/07, Gavin Montague <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > However, I'll stand by my bitch/point about the beeb at dconstruct. > > The general consensus amongst the people I spoke to was that the BBC > > wasn't relevant to them as developers. As consumers, yes, but as > > developers, no. > > Why *should* the BBC be relevant to them as developers? Were they also > complaining about all the other large media organisations that weren't > relevant to them as developers? > > Yes, I'm being a bit of a devil's advocate, but I'm also genuinely (if > possibly naively) wondering about these questions. Is it just part of > the way everyone in the UK feels the BBC should be more relevant to > their individual needs because they pay for it directly (rather than > indirectly) and developers are no different? Or is there a reason why > the BBC should be providing tools for developers to do stuff more than > all other UK media organisations do? > > Part of me wonders whether the BBC should get on with making good > content, telling stories, (whether on- or offline) and stop attempting > to be an internet startup.
I think that's part of the answer: the content. As the national broadcaster of record, the BBC has the largest pool of content available in this country (and probably many others). In some sense this content 'belongs' to us, even if only as a component of shared culture or cultures. Part of the BBC's responsibility is to make that content available to those it belongs to. If that includes tools for developers to access and aggregate that content to be able to re-present it, then that is what they should provide. The BBC is, for better or worse, in this country subject to different rules and constraints to other broadcasters (though Channel 4 shares - or at least should share - some of the same ethos) because of its place in national culture and its public funding.
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