Global appeal - May 2019 - Royal Television Society
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May 2019 OUR PLANET Global appeal
LOVE TV?
SO DO WE!
The Royal Television Society bursaries
offer financial support and mentoring
to people studying:
TELEVISION PRODUCTION
BROADCAST JOURNALISM
ENGINEERING
COMPUTER SCIENCE
PHYSICS
MATHS
This year we have:
l Added 10 new bursaries, funded by STV,
for students studying in Scotland
l Doubled the total funds pledged to the schemes
l Expanded the eligible courses, so that five times
as many students can now apply
Apply now at rts.org.uk/bursaries
#rtsbursaries
Journal of The Royal Television Society
May 2019 l Volume 56/5
From the CEO
Two powerful RTS writers in this month’s issue – Russell benefits of increasing workplace
events – in London T Davies, Sally Wainwright and Stefan diversity in her genre.
and Bristol – show Golaszewski – whose work returns to We report on Dave’s new laugh-
how the influence television this month. out-loud comedy about south London
of television can be Russell brings us the dystopian pizza delivery drivers, Sliced, which
harnessed to alert drama Years and Years; Sally, a tale of brings the hugely talented Samson
people to the dangers Victorian sexual rebellion in Gentleman Kayo back to our screens – this time
of climate change and the need for Jack; and Stefan offers viewers as both actor and writer.
conservation. another chunk – sadly the final Finally, Tara Conlan considers the
Our cover story is devoted to Net one – of his RTS award-winning prospects for Dave and the other
flix’s first natural history series, Our comedy, Mum. UKTV channels in the wake of the
Planet, which is narrated by the great News and current affairs are also BBC buying out Discovery’s share of
Sir David Attenborough. a big part of this month’s mix. Andrew their joint venture.
Steve Clarke also discovers how this Billen talks to Sky’s new political
inspiring series is using an innovative editor Beth Rigby, whose no-nonsense
social media campaign to promote approach is proving highly effective,
a sustainable future for the Earth. while Channel 4’s Dorothy Byrne
We talk to three talented British offers some trenchant thoughts on the Theresa Wise
Contents
5 Graeme Thompson’s TV Diary
Graeme Thompson takes a tour of Game of Thrones
locations in Northern Ireland – and becomes Westeros’s
latest victim
18 A blaze of red lipstick
Andrew Billen meets Sky’s new political editor,
Beth Rigby, whose demotic style is lighting up
Westminster
6 Our Planet: Global ambitions
Netflix’s first natural history series, narrated by
David Attenborough, impresses Steve Clarke 21 Our Friend in Belfast
A-list movie stars drink in the city’s bars and its content
sector is buzzing. Kieran Doherty hails the Game of
Thrones legacy
8 Our Planet: Cutting-edge conservation
Steve Clarke learns how the documentary’s social
media campaign aims to change hearts and minds
22 The Beeb bets big on UKTV
Tara Conlan asks who is likely to gain most from the BBC’s
record-breaking purchase of Discovery’s stake in UKTV
10 A tale for our times
Sally Wainwright persuades Caroline Frost that
Gentleman Jack is a zeitgeist heroine
24 When laughter tops the menu
Matthew Bell enjoys a piece of Sliced, Dave’s new
pizza-delivery sitcom, at an RTS Futures event
12 At the top of his game
Russell T Davies tells Ben Dowell how he was inspired to
write his near-future dystopian drama, Years and Years
26 Still shaking things up
Blunt and entertaining, Dorothy Byrne is clear that more
diversity is the key to outstanding current affairs, reports
14 Mum’s the word Carole Solazzo
Steve Clarke discovers unexpected literary
influences on the award-winning comedies
of writer Stefan Golaszewski
28 Can £57m reverse a decade of decline?
A new fund, aimed at reinvigorating kids’ TV, launched
in April. Maggie Brown investigates
16 A watershed in regulation?
Stewart Purvis welcomes the recent white paper on
online harm but warns of unintended consequences Cover: Netflix
Editor Production, design, advertising Royal Television Society Subscription rates Printing Legal notice
Steve Clarke Gordon Jamieson 3 Dorset Rise UK £115 ISSN 0308-454X © Royal Television Society 2019.
smclarke_333@hotmail.com gordon.jamieson.01@gmail.com London EC4Y 8EN Overseas (surface) £146.11 Printer: FE Burman The views expressed in Television
News editor and writer Sub-editor T: 020 7822 2810 Overseas (airmail) £172.22 20 Crimscott Street are not necessarily those of the RTS.
Matthew Bell Sarah Bancroft E: info@rts.org.uk Enquiries: publication@rts.org.uk London SE1 5TP Registered Charity 313 728
bell127@btinternet.com smbancroft@me.com W: www.rts.org.uk
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2019 3
RTS NEWS Your guide to
upcoming events.
Book online at
www.rts.org.uk
RTS AWARDS Monday 7 October SOUTHERN
National events Monday 25 November RTS Midlands Careers Fair ■ Stephanie Farmer
RTS Craft & Design Awards 2019 Venue: TBC ■ SFarmer@bournemouth.ac.uk
RTS AGM London Hilton on Park Lane
Tuesday 25 June 22 Park Lane, London W1K 1BE Friday 29 November THAMES VALLEY
All RTS members welcome. 6pm RTS Midlands Awards 2019 Wednesday 12 June
Venue: RTS, 7th floor, Dorset Rise, Venue: ICC, Broad Street, Advances in compression
London EC4Y 8EN Local events Birmingham B1 2EA Seminar presentation by V-Nova
■ Jayne Greene 07792 776585 Book to reserve a place.
RTS AWARDS DEVON AND CORNWALL ■ RTSMidlands@rts.org.uk 6:30pm-9:00pm
Friday 28 June ■ Jane Hudson Venue: V-Nova, 1 Sheldon
RTS Student Television ■ RTSDevonandCornwall@rts. NORTH EAST AND THE BORDER Square, London W2 6TT
Awards 2019 org.uk Tuesday 28 May ■ Tony Orme
Sponsored by Motion AGM ■ RTSThamesValley@rts.org.uk
Content Group EAST 6:00pm
Venue: BFI Southbank, Belvedere ■ Jayne Greene Venue: Digital Lounge, The WALES
Road, London SE1 8XT ■ rtseast@rts.org.uk Tyneside Cinema, Pilgrim Street, Thursday 6 June
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6QG Beyond tokenism– Cardiff
RTS CAMBRIDGE CONVENTION ISLE OF MAN ■ Jill Graham Joint event with the Creative
2019 ■ Michael Wilson ■ jill.graham@blueyonder.co.uk Diversity Network and RTS
18-20 September ■ michael.wilson@isleofmedia.org Wales. If you wish to attend,
Content, consumers and NORTH WEST please respond to: projects@
everything in between LONDON Wednesday 19 June creativediversitynetwork.com.
Principal sponsor: ITV. Confirmed Wednesday 5 June Judge Rinder 2:30pm-5:00pm
speakers include: Jeremy Dar- Summer quiz 2019 More details TBA Venue: Chapter Arts Centre,
roch, CEO, Sky; Tony Hall, Direc- Hosted by Harriet Brain. Build Venue: Compass Room, Lowry Market Road, Cardiff CF5 1QE
tor-General, BBC; Alex Mahon, a team of up to eight people. Theatre, Salford Quays M50 3AZ ■ Hywel Wiliam 07980 007841
CEO, Channel 4; Sharon White, 6:30pm for 7:00pm ■ HWiliam@rts.org.uk
CEO, Ofcom; Rt Hon Jeremy Venue: TBC Thursday 26 September
Wright MP, Secretary of State, Awards launch party WEST OF ENGLAND
DCMS; and David Zaslav, Presi- Wednesday 4 December Details TBA Monday 3 June
dent and CEO, Discovery. Chaired Christmas Lecture: David Venue: Compass Room, Lowry Last Breath screening and Q&A
by Carolyn McCall, CEO, ITV. Abraham Theatre, Salford Quays M50 3AZ Joint event with The Farm.
Venue: King’s College CB2 1ST 6:30pm for 7:00pm ■ Rachel Pinkney 07966 230639 Speakers: Alex Parkinson, direc-
Venue: Cavendish Conference ■ RPinkney@rts.org.uk tor, producer, writer, DoP; Richard
STEVE HEWLETT MEMORIAL Centre, 22 Duchess Mews, de Costa, producer, director; and
LECTURE 2019 London W1G 9DT NORTHERN IRELAND Sam Rogers, editor. Hosted by
Tuesday 24 September ■ Daniel Cherowbrier ■ John Mitchell Kate Beetham, Plimsoll Produc-
Speaker Mark Thompson ■ daniel@cherowbrier.co.uk ■ mitch.mvbroadcast@ tions. 6:00pm for 6:10pm
Mark Thompson is President btinternet.com Venue: Everyman, 44 Whiteladies
and CEO of the New York Times, MIDLANDS Road, Bristol BS8 2NH
and a former Director-General Thursday 6 June REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
of the BBC. Post-lecture drinks From Birmingham to ■ Charles Byrne (353) 87251 3092 Tuesday 2 July
reception sponsored by BBC Hollywood: In conversation ■ byrnecd@iol.ie AGM
Studios. 6:00pm for 6:30pm with David Harewood Venue TBC
Venue: University of Westminster, In conversation with Samantha SCOTLAND ■ Belinda Biggam
London W1W 7BY Meah. David will talk about Wednesday 12 June ■ belindabiggam@hotmail.com
growing up in Birmingham, his RTS Scotland Television
RTS MASTERCLASSES career over the past 30 years Awards 2019 YORKSHIRE
Tuesday 5 November and and his BBC documentary David Hosted by STV presenter Jen- Friday 14 June
Wednesday 6 November Harewood: My Psychosis and nifer Reoch and comedian Des RTS Yorkshire Centre Awards
RTS Student Masterclasses Me. Sponsored by Film Birming- Clarke. From 5:45pm. Ceremony Deadline for booking: noon
Venue: IET, 2 Savoy Place, ham. Media partner: BBC WM. starts 7:15pm 31 May. 6:45pm-12:30am
London WC2R 0BL 6:45pm for 7:00pm Venue: The Old Fruitmarket, Venue: The Queens Hotel, City
Venue: The Banqueting Suite, Candleriggs, Glasgow G1 1NQ Square, Leeds LS1 1PJ
The Council House, Victoria ■ April Chamberlain ■ Lisa Holdsworth 07790 145280
Square, Birmingham B1 1BB ■ scotlandchair@rts.org.uk ■ lisa@allonewordproductions.
co.uk
4
TV diary
Graeme Thompson takes a tour of Game
of Thrones locations in Northern Ireland –
and becomes Westeros’s latest victim
T
o Belfast for the coach, having painfully twisted my The BBC’s move to Salford and Chan-
weekend, staying at a knee. Westeros has claimed another nel 4’s commitment to Leeds is good
Titanic-themed hotel casualty. news for career prospects beyond the
next door to the capital. But it is still the case that the
studios where HBO ■ To London to chair the RTS Edu- majority of work-experience oppor-
films Game of Thrones. cation Committee. We have a lovely tunities are in London. Which might
The charred battle- group of enthusiastically engaged as well as be another country for
ments visible above the lot are a clue colleagues from production compa- many of our students.
to how the final episodes play out. nies and broadcasters.
Over eight seasons, Game of Thrones We spend the first few minutes ■ Back in Sunderland, I am sitting
has spent more than €320m in hearing some of the many success in on a session with seven students
Northern Ireland. In addition to the stories of graduates who’ve completed who are being mentored by legend-
Titanic Studios, there’s another studio their degrees with support from our ary film producer David Puttnam.
in Belfast Harbour filming a Superman bursaries. Kyle’s now at A Question of Lord Puttnam was Chancellor of the
spin-off. Sport, Adam’s at The Garden and Max- university for a decade and has main-
Millions more pour in to the local ine has joined Moonage Pictures. tained close ties. Today, he is in his
economy thanks to tourism. We find Florence, another of our bursary studio in the West of Ireland talking to
the lure of the Game of Thrones loca- scheme graduates, has joined our the group via a broadcast video link.
tion tour irresistible. Our gossipy committee and talks of her new job He leads the Puttnam Scholars
coach driver regales us with insights as a script editor at Lime Pictures in through a lively discussion about
into the filming and helpfully screens Liverpool. Being an RTS bursary stu- climate change, the politics of protest,
the locations to be visited as they dent has, in her words, been life- Brexit, the music of Ennio Morricone
appear in the show. changing. and the work of Ridley Scott.
The mentoring is done individually
■ We’re dropping in on about a ■ The scheme is aimed at students and with the group over a period of
dozen of the more than 60 locations from households with an income of five months. Sessions have included
used by the franchise over 10 years. less than £25,000, usually from areas a discourse on the power of music in
Lots of them are on the majestic underrepresented in the TV business. storytelling. There’s been a memo-
Antrim coastline, as it stretches Thanks to supporters such as All3 rable tea in the House of Lords.
towards the Giant’s Causeway. Media and STV, we will be meeting The scholars are making a film,
These places are the backdrop to in August to select another 35 recipi- which David will see when he visits
unspeakable acts of on-screen vio- ents of our production and broadcast the campus in June. Their theme is
lence. We creep into the caves at journalism bursaries and our techni- kindness and compassion in a post-
Cushendun, where Melisandre gave cal bursaries. Brexit Britain. “My generation has
eye-watering birth to the shadow It’s not just about the financial made such a hash of things,” he tells
monster and peer down into the support: each student gets an indus- them. “You have to do better.”
harbour at Carnlough, where Arya try mentor and help in securing
crawled out of its freezing depths placements. Our energetic co- Graeme Thompson is pro vice-chancellor
after a vicious stabbing. ordinator, Anne Dawson, is trying to at the University of Sunderland and
In keeping with the theme, I source low-cost accommodation for Chair of the RTS Education Committee.
endure an ungainly fall on our way students coming to London to do
down a cliff en route to Dragonstone their placements. n For more on the production legacy
in heavy rain and hobble back to the It’s a real blocker for many students. of Game of Thrones, see page 21.
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2019 5
Netflix’s first natural
history series, narrated
by David Attenborough,
impresses Steve Clarke
Netflix
Global ambitions
S
hocking scenes of wal- revealed as Netflix’s most popular timing of the event could not have
ruses jammed together show in the UK that month, ahead of been more appropriate.
“out of desperation” on such youth-friendly dramas as The Scholey, one of the world’s most
an ice-depleted beach, a Perfect Date and Riverdale. experienced wildlife film-makers, told
consequence of climate The walruses sequence was a crowded auditorium how he had
change, have emerged as described as “the most powerful I’ve reacted on first seeing the rushes of
the defining image of Netflix’s high- ever shot” by award-winning natural the stranded walruses, which was
profile natural history documentary, history cinematographer Jamie filmed in north-east Russia.
Our Planet. McPherson. He was speaking at a joint “There’s a palpable excitement when
The series is narrated by Sir David RTS and Wildscreen event in which you know you’ve filmed something
Attenborough, and he launched the the episode featuring the walruses, that is important,” he said. “I was shell
programme at Davos, where he was Frozen Worlds, was screened. shocked when I first saw it. I am still
interviewed by the Duke of Cambridge “The sequence has become a symbol shell shocked.”
before an audience of global decision- of climate change,” added Keith Scholey, Around 100,000 of the creatures that
makers. “We are now so numerous series producer of the eight-part once survived happily on the Russian
and so powerful that we can destroy Our Planet, which involved filming ice are seen densely packed together
whole ecosystems without even notic- 3,500 hours of material in 50 countries on a shingle beach. Russian biologist
ing it,” said Attenborough. with more than 600 crew members. Anatoly Kochnev had alerted the
A subsequent glitzy London premiere “There is shock but also the revelation film-makers to the walruses’ plight.
at the Natural History Museum was that everyone thinks we’ve got to do Viewers then see some of the wal-
attended by HRH Prince Charles, the something about it.” ruses trapped on top of an 80-metre
Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Sus- With the impact of London’s Extinc- cliff. A few manage to work out how to
sex, David Beckham and singer Ellie tion Rebellion protesters still reverber- get safety back down to the shore. The
Goulding. ating – hours before the RTS screening, majority end up killing themselves as
The landmark series started stream- demonstrators had glued themselves they tumble down the cliff.
ing on 5 April, and was recently to the London Stock Exchange – the “It’s tragic, heart-breaking and
6
shocking,” said Sophie Lanfear, pro- remarkable that overnight you can
ducer of Frozen Worlds, broadcast to nearly all the countries in
She prepared for the episode by the world. It’s been fascinating.…
watching every documentary about “With normal TV, the launch is
the natural history of the North Pole everything but Netflix is quite relaxed
and Antarctica that she could get her about the launch. Its attitude is: ‘We’ll
hands on: “We’re all so passionate have a look at it after a month but
about conservation. It was my first we’ll really judge something after six
film. I’ve done a lot of work at the months.’”
Poles.… After watching all these docu- Securing the services of Attenbor-
mentaries, I realised that the important ough was a coup for the streamer. As
message of our time was to differenti- Scholey observed: “When David started
ate between sea ice and land ice.” out, you had to broadcast live, there
The first section of Frozen Worlds was not even tape. He’d be seen by
explains how sea ice works and its about 20,000 people in Surrey; now,
vital role in supporting an abundance he’s going to an audience of hundreds
of life. With sea ice disappearing rap- of millions globally.”
idly due to climate change, the impact The great man has always been
is not restricted to walruses and polar intrigued by advances in broadcast
bears, but extends to the entire plane- technology. He worked with Sky
tary ecosystem. because it provided an opportunity to
“These frozen worlds, these ice present programmes produced in 3D.
worlds, are protecting us from climate Similarly, Sir David was keen to nar-
change,” said Lanfear. “If we lose those, rate Our Planet thanks to its high tech-
we stand to lose not just these magnif- nical specification.
icent animals but a lot more. That was “He was excited by the fact that this
the narrative I wanted to tell.” is, I think, the first series available in
In another sequence, we learn how Netflix 4K and high dynamic range,” said
krill stocks are declining in the polar Scholey. “High dynamic range is the
regions, which is likely to have severe interesting bit. The range of colours is
consequences for the humpback spellbinding.”
whales that feed on them.
Our Planet, in common with Atten-
‘THE SEQUENCE Having been a natural history film-
maker for more than 30 years, Scholey
borough’s recent BBC One film, Climate HAS BECOME is well aware that flying around the
Change – the Facts, pulls no punches on
the climate crisis – but it also sets out A SYMBOL OF world to capture astonishing pictures
comes at a cost to the environment
to wrap its ecological message in an
entertaining production.
CLIMATE CHANGE’ that he and his colleagues passionately
want to protect.
Four years in the making, including Silverback Films is affiliated to the
two years of shooting, Scholey was extensive social media presence (see Albert environmental production cer-
determined that Our Planet should not page 8), which aims to spark global tification scheme. It aims to ensure
mince its words about the environ- conversations around what can be that all UK screen content is made in a
mental crisis. He and his one-time done to halt climate change and way “that benefits individuals, industry
colleague at the BBC Natural History restore biodiversity. organisations and the planet.”
Unit, Alastair Fothergill, set up Silver- In contrast to the walrus sequence, The production team was mindful of
back Films in 2012. Our Planet contains familiar but heart- its environment impact. “We offset our
“We always wanted to make another warming pictures of penguins – a carbon,” Scholey said. “We try to do
big landmark show (among the duo’s father somehow identifies his own what is right. At the end of the day, the
credits are Blue Planet and Planet Earth), chick in a colony of half a million equation we have to consider is: ‘Is the
but we were so aware of the destruc- birds. “You have to strike the right environmental cost of making the film
tion of nature that we thought it was balance between informing and enter- worth bringing the story back?’
inappropriate to make one that didn’t taining and showing the glory of the “On that basis, I am happy with what
tackle the issues of our modern world natural world,” said Scholey. we’ve done but it is a judgement call.
head on,” said Scholey. “If we were going By the end of April, Our Planet was “There is no doubt that film-making
to tackle the environmental issues we estimated to have been seen by more is an expensive business that comes at
needed to make sure we had our facts than 25 million households globally. a cost to the environment.” n
right, so from the word go we teamed He told the RTS that Netflix had given
up with the World Wildlife Fund. him and his team a lot of freedom. As a The Our Planet screening and Q&A was
“Every two years, it does the Living subscription service, there was no risk held at 30 Euston Square, London, on
Planet Report – basically an audit of that advertisers might exert pressure on 25 April. The discussion was moderated
what’s going on in the world. That the film-makers. “It’s been a good jour- by Lynn Barlow, RTS West of England
formed the factual spine of what ney. I think Netflix is now happy with Chair. The producers were Wildscreen
became Our Planet.” what we do,” he said with typical director Lucie Muir, Festival co-ordinator
The series is complemented by an understatement, adding: “It is Molly Gibney and the RTS’s Jamie O’Neill.
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2019 7
Cutting-edge
conservation
Our Planet 2
Steve Clarke learns how
the documentary’s social
media campaign aims to
change hearts and minds
I
s social media the environ Planet earlier this year, Silverback officers in other countries given the
mentalist movement’s secret co-founder Alastair Fothergill opportunity to translate them into their
weapon? Could it put us all on explained: “This series was always own languages.
the path to a pollution-free, going to go a step further than tradi- A packed RTS audience in Bristol got
sustainable future in which tional blue-chip series had gone. Some a taste of what Our Planet’s social media
biodiversity thrives and climate episodes go very far. The Coastal Seas halo will look like as it propagates
change is pegged back? episode shows humanity causing across Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
It sounds like an eco-warrior mani- problems – and provides solutions “The whole campaign is about
festo penned by the remarkable Swed- – but other episodes do less of that. building momentum,” explained Amy
ish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg. But this The halo was always going to do the Anderson, WWF producer/director and
is, in a nutshell, the ambitious hope heavy lifting.” one of the evening’s three panellists.
driving an extensive portfolio of share- By exploiting the power of the inter- The West Country capital is synony-
able, bespoke films made for digital net, this content could eventually be mous with wildlife television thanks to
distribution. They have been created watched by 1 billion people worldwide. the presence of the BBC’s Natural His-
by Silverback Films to accompany its This ambition puts the live TV audi- tory Unit. But it’s a racing certainty
landmark, eight-part Netflix natural ence for the England vs Croatia World that nothing quite like this has been
history series, Our Planet, narrated by Cup semi-final last year – 26.5 million made by Bristol’s production commu-
Sir David Attenborough. people – in context, let alone that for nity before.
The so-called “social media halo” Line of Duty. Event host and RTS West of England
was devised by Silverback and its The films are being translated into Chair Lynn Barlow described the initi-
partner on the documentary, the World French, Spanish, German and Portu- ative as a unique partnership in broad-
Wildlife Fund (WWF). Promoting Our guese, with the WWF’s network casting that could help change human
8
‘THIS CONTENT shortest films. Make the tone too
proselytising and a potential audience
movie. Once more, the purpose is to
draw attention to the loss of biodiversity.
COULD might be put off, especially in such an
information-rich age when short-at-
“Audiences will come to this content
in different ways,” said Jon Clay, direc-
EVENTUALLY tention spans are a fact of life. tor and producer at Silverback. “Most
BE WATCHED “For Colin Butfield, who headed up
the Our Planet team, the project and its
people are driven to ask questions
about what they can do. Having a clear
BY 1 BILLION halo were an opportunity to reach new message is vital.”
PEOPLE audiences through mass communica-
tions tools. That was his vision for this
As the halo was just gearing up, he
hoped that the social media campaign
WORLDWIDE’ project,” said Anderson.
Dan Huertas, director and producer
would have longevity: “If we put out
everything now, when the series is new,
at Silverback Films, suggested that it would just disappear into white noise.
“this is bit of a first. A global channel “Our plan is to put certain content out
and a global charity saw the power on certain channels with certain part-
they could potentially tap into. nerships through the year. As the Our
“Series such as Blue Planet have been Planet brand grows, we’re hoping this
criticised for not going into enough will feed more interest coming to us.
detail on the solutions, and for painting “Our ambition is that Our Planet
a very rosy picture of the planet. That’s stands for more than a TV series on
partly because they are created to allow Netflix, that Our Planet stands for a way
you to escape and appreciate the beauty of thinking and a shift towards sustain
of the planet.” ability as more people get involved in
Our Planet doesn’t flinch from graph- the campaign.”
ically depicting how climate change is Netflix has been praised for its
affecting natural habitats. Even non- hands-off attitude to film-makers.
Netflix subscribers know the fate of How much influence did the company
the Russian walruses stranded on have on the halo? “If it was just a Net
ice-depleted rocks (see page 6) after flix project, we would have had some
video of the unfortunate mammals battles,” said Clay. “It would have
went viral. wanted to promote certain things that
Several of the videos shown to the point heavily to the series. But having
RTS highlighted the frightening accel- the WWF as a partner, it has believed
eration of species loss. Two illustrated in the equality of the partnership.”
the impact of deforestation on orangu- The last word should go to Attenbor-
tans – 100 of whom are estimated to ough, who recently celebrated his 93rd
die every week due to human activity. birthday. In one of the clips shown to
Over the past 40 years their habit has the RTS he struck a frank but passion-
declined by 75%. The world is losing ately optimistic tone as he told our
Netflix
nearly 15 million hectares of tropical fossil-fuel-addicted societies to mend
forest each year, and Our Planet notes their ways.
that jungles capture and store more “There’s never been a better oppor-
behaviour, as we seek to combat cli- carbon than any other land habitat. tunity to take control,” he said. “The
mate change and restore biodiversity. The panellists stressed that the halo plan is obvious. Stop doing the damag-
While there is nothing new in aims to offer solutions to the environ- ing stuff. Roll out the new green tech
deploying social media to enhance the mental problems mankind is responsi- and systems as they arrive.
impact of a TV show, or to provide ble for without being didactic. “Stabilise the human population as
additional footage, the scope and “People have to know there is a low as we fairly can. Keep hold of the
ambition of Our Planet’s halo seems solution out there,” said Huertas. “With natural wealth we have currently got,
unprecedented. So, too, does its cam- these particular two films, we hope to and in 80 years’ time we’ll be past the
paigning edge. create conversations and dialogue worse of it.
Most of the clips shown to the RTS around palm-oil production.” “More than that, we’ll have built a
have yet to be released, even though He continued: “An example of how world of eternal energy, clean air and
Netflix launched Our Planet globally we’re cascading our conversations on water, a stable, healthy world that we
on 5 April. By the end of April, an esti- social media via Twitter is [where we] can benefit from forever.”
mated 25 million households had seen explain why palm oil can be farmed With words like these delivered by a
the series. sustainably and get the message across broadcasting legend, the Our Planet halo
The idea is to drip-feed the videos in an engaging way. looks destined to shine brightly. n
during the rest of the year on a thematic “It’s counter-intuitive that palm oil
basis – or simply in response to what- production can help jungles but, pro- The RTS West of England event ‘Our
ever environmental stories happen to vided it’s grown sustainably, it can.” Planet – Creating a social media cam-
be hitting the headlines at the time. Another halo film shows an upbeat, paign’ was held at the Watershed, Bristol,
Much thought and time is given over Latino anthropomorphic frog resem- on 2 May. It was chaired by Lynn Barlow
to devising and executing even the bling a chirpy character from a Disney and produced by Suzy Lambert.
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2019 9
A tale
for our
times
S
ome 20 years in the mak- Add to this the fact that Wainwright
ing, Sally’s Wainwright’s Drama used to run along the corridors of
new television drama, Shibden Hall on regular visits as a
Gentleman Jack, was origi- child, and you can begin to guess at the
nally rejected by every Sally Wainwright strength of the connection she feels to
broadcaster she took it to.
The story of an openly gay woman
persuades Caroline Frost the ancient house and its headstrong
inhabitant.
who farmed in 19th-century rural that Gentleman Jack is “I do feel very passionately,” she
Yorkshire was considered a non-
starter by TV networks. Starting this
a zeitgeist heroine laughs. “She’s my biggest heroine, and,
for me to bring it to screen, I feel very
month, the topic is getting eight hours privileged. I just hope that people get
of BBC One Sunday-night primetime. A fair part of it is even written in to like her.”
It’s common for writers to describe code, where the subject matter runs What’s not to like? From the first
their latest work as a “passion project” into matters of the heart and mattress. episode, actually filmed in Shibden, we
– often industry-accepted shorthand It is spread over 27 volumes, 300 pages meet Lister, played by Suranne Jones
for what they hope is infectious enthu- apiece, and now sits under Unesco- with a wonderful glint in her eye. When
siasm for their new offering. protected vigilance in the Halifax she’s not winding up her sister, aunt
But in the case of Wainwright and Library. Intriguingly, it’s only been in and father – jealous, doting and bewil-
Gentleman Jack, it doesn’t really do jus- the public domain since the late 1980s, dered, respectively – she’s climbing
tice to her efforts to bring the extraor- when the first pages were published. hills, riding horses or inspecting the
dinary true-life tale of Anne Lister to “I’ve been working on it for 20 years, work of her tenants.
the screen. and I feel like a novice,” Wainwright And that’s before you get to all the
For a start, Lister’s diary, on which says. “Very few people have even read women – because, in case she wasn’t
Wainwright has based her eight hours it in full. Maxine Peake’s earlier BBC already provocative enough in her
of drama, is a weighty tome, running to drama (a single drama in 2010) sort of lifestyle choices, Lister was also an
4 million words. It covers every aspect skirted through, but you can’t really do out-and-proud lesbian, long before
of her singular life in the early 19th it justice in 90 minutes. It’s vast, laby- Queen Victoria doubted their existence.
century as a traveller, mountaineer, rinthine and inaccessible. It’s actually Lister was determined to find herself
diarist and female landowner of the quite an emotional experience just some proper loving, which she did in
imposing Shibden Hall in Yorkshire. seeing the real pages.” the arms of her neighbour Anne
10Walker. Clearly, this is a story for our without being gratuitous at all. If a are being written for better than ever
time, if not Lister’s. female director can’t do that, who can? before.
“I initially pitched it in the early “There’s one sex scene that’s quite “There are some great male charac-
2000s,” remembers Wainwright. fruity, but it lasts about three seconds. ters in this, but at its core it’s strong
“Nobody was interested. I was quite All the others are incredibly delicately women. And that’s quite a new thing,
young, and 20 years ago we weren’t constructed and shot. The tabloids bonkers as it sounds. But it makes
having the same conversations we are have grabbed some screen shots and better viewing for everybody, I think.”
now about gender. gone on about the sex, which is a bit After a string of awards and hits to
“We can be so articulate and open sickening after we tried so hard to do her name, Wainwright has inevitably
with our children now, they’re not it delicately, but what can you do?” been courted by some deep-pocketed
growing up in a world where you have Collinson calls it “a 360° look at a producers on the other side of the
to be hidden away if you’re not dead complicated, difficult relationship”, Atlantic, particularly after Happy Valley
straight. If I’d got this made 20 years adding: “I can’t think of another show won a whole new audience on Netflix.
ago, it would have been a niche drama, in the UK that puts a gay couple right But it seems we won’t be losing her
tucked away in the schedules some- in the middle of it, and celebrates that any time soon.
where. I wouldn’t have got to grips relationship, at 9:00pm on a Sunday.” “I’ve always wanted to write dramas
with the diary, I wouldn’t have got Is it that commissioners are becom- that are about my world, which is why
Suranne Jones, so I can’t regret what’s ing braver, or has the world changed? I’ve gravitated to West Yorkshire and
happened. We couldn’t do her more “A bit of both,” he decides. “It’s just Halifax. Telly is becoming more global,
justice than we’re doing now.” less scandalous to tell a story like this. but you still have to set your show
Executive producer Phil Collinson is We’ve just had The Favourite becoming somewhere specific, and I set my
quite clear that only Sally Wainwright a big-screen hit. There are still fights shows where I know what I’m talking
could have brought off this mighty to be had, but it’s definitely more about, where I speak the same language
project. “She’s peeled back Anne’s on the agenda, plus that people speak.”
character, got underneath, and mined women A few months ago, Wainwright
the strength in the middle of her char- referred in a Radio Times interview to
acter. Plus she’s made it very funny, the long battle she felt she had to fight
which period drama often forgets to do. in order to be taken seriously as a
“You can laugh out loud at this bril- creative woman in an industry she
liant family. You have actors Gemma believes simply “trusts men more”.
Whelan, Gemma Jones and Timothy Now, with the likes of Fleabag
West in these extraordinary scenes at and Killing Eve joining her own
BBC
the dinner table, where the family gets huge catalogue of hits, she
to be really dysfunctional. There are acknowledges things are improv-
universal things in this story, things ing. However, she reminds us: “It’s
that audiences can completely interesting, we mention those shows,
relate to.” but they’re just individual names. It’s
For Gentleman Jack, the BBC part- an ongoing process.
nered with HBO; the show has “You still just see so many more
already thrilled critics in the US. men’s names in the credits, or, if
Wainwright said both partners you trawl through Netflix on the
were equally willing to trust her thumbnails, you see so many
and support her editorial deci- more male faces. It’s like turn-
sions for a prime-time drama ing the tanker around. If we
built around a lesbian let our guard down for a
relationship. second, it will
“It was my choice, not foisted stop.” n
on me, to make the story family-
orientated,” says Wainwright,
who also directed the drama.
“I like entertaining people, I
don’t want to preach, so that
was my guiding light, and
there’s nothing more enter-
taining than a dysfunctional
family.
“I didn’t want gratuitous
sex scenes. Anne was a
great lesbian lover and we
should celebrate that. She
said herself, ‘I know how
to please a lady, and I did,’
so I wanted to reflect that,
BBC
but you can get that across Suranne Jones in Gentleman Jack
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2019 11At the
top
of his
game
Rex Features
O
n the eve of the 2016 very political writer. I always have
US presidential elec- Screenwriting been. Every single year, in Doctor Who, I
tion, when Donald either killed or deposed a prime min-
Trump was getting ister. In series 1, I blew up Downing
his first inkling that Russell T Davies tells Street with a missile. Everyone sat
he would be elected
to the world’s highest political office,
Ben Dowell how he was there and laughed and thought what a
really fun adventure. And I was, like,
Russell T Davies was texting the con- inspired to write his have you seen what I have just done
troller of BBC drama about an idea
they had long been discussing. “I wrote
near-future dystopian on BBC One?
“And, actually, in something like
to Piers Wenger and said, ‘If he wins drama, Years and Years Queer as Folk, if you’re writing about the
tomorrow, it’s time I write this show lives of gay men, you’re actually mak-
now’ – and he said yes,” recalls Davies. ing massive political statements. I kind
This project was the BBC One epic his wife, Celeste (T’Nia Miller), whose of engage with [politics] by not writing
Years and Years. The series imagines a phone-obsessed teenage daughter, crime – I don’t write crime – but I write
near-future, towards the end of Bethany, wants to transition (a term about ordinary people engaging with
Trump’s second term, when he is which means something very different the world. That’s a political act. That’s
threatening war with China, people are in Years and Years). what politics is. This show is just putting
means tested before they’re allowed to The show is packed with the kind of it more centre stage than normal.”
enter the affluent London quarter of bold ambition we have come to expect And then he laughs that big laugh of
Kensington and a ruthless populist from this whip-smart, jolly writer who his. “I’m always kicking up a fuss about
called Vivienne Rook (Emma Thomp- has brought back both Jesus (The Second something. It’s very rare to get a drama
son) is riding to political prominence. Coming) and Doctor Who, written the out of me that’s just two people having
Nearly as bad, the price of coffee, I seminal drama depicting modern Brit- a nice time. It’s a long-winded way of
noticed, is £12 a cup. ish gay life (Queer as Folk), and the story me saying: I’m worried about the world.
It’s told from the perspective of the of a gay man who has a straight affair In a sense, I always have been.”
Manchester-based Lyons family, a (Bob & Rose). But Davies insists that his It would also not be surprising to
likeable bunch impacted by these and new work’s geopolitical themes should find Davies feeling low for other,
other seismic political and societal not surprise us. non-geopolitical reasons. We were
changes. They include Daniel (Russell “I’m known as a science fiction speaking six months after the death of
Tovey), who works with refugees, his writer and for Queer as Folk and stuff his husband, Andrew, after a long
brother, Stephen (Rory Kinnear), and like that,” he says. “But, actually, I’m a illness – something that he and I have
12“It can take a year to write something,
it can take a year to get made and
sometimes they can sit on a shelf for a
year. And so, by the time you get to the
screen, there’s not much of the real
world left in it. Even soap operas are
sometimes six months behind in the
plotting. That’s what I wanted to shift,
to get ‘now’ on screen. We were work-
ing so fast. We stopped shooting in
March and now we’re getting on air in
May. That’s very fast.”
Given that there is little doubt about
where he stands on the great political
questions of our day, I wonder what he
will say to those commentators who
will inevitably complain that Years and
Years comes from a typical left-leaning,
liberal BBC perspective?
“I am absolutely happily left wing,”
he says, “but it’s my job to write right-
wing people well. I am not talking
about Vivienne Rook – she’s an outlier,
the worst of the left wing and the right
wing put together.”
But where are the conservative
voices in TV drama? Obviously, there’s
nothing stopping people with other
views getting their laptops out. But is
enough effort being made so that they
Years and Years
BBC
are heard in mainstream drama – or,
indeed, comedy – where a liberal/left
discussed in private but which he now
feels able to discuss publicly. ‘IT’S MY JOB consensus also seems to reign?
“I think it’s very significant that
“I am all right,” he says with a deep TO WRITE right-wing voices, clearly, are not that
sigh. “We’re just past the six-month
mark, which is odd. It’s when everyone RIGHT-WING creative,” he chortles. “They’re funda-
mentally fucked.…”
expects you to be all right and it’s not.
What do you do? You just keep going.
PEOPLE WELL’ Davies is not keen on Twitter, either,
which he believes has become “the
All you can do is keep on going and it’s dominant voice of Western society”
exactly what he’d want me to do. Life and is accorded a misplaced sense of
is very strange. Every day.” carpet and take me to Anglesey. Hus- respect “simply because it is typed out”.
He and Andrew, he says, never dis- bands and wives, they split up and “Our brains and intelligence and
cussed rearing children. Not because there are changes in their relationship. communication were not designed for
he wouldn’t want to bring infants into But families always stay together. In all information to be passed through
this terrible future he’s now imagining. my conversations with the BBC, in the written word,” he says.
It was simply to do with the fact that gay advance, we agreed there was no point Perhaps he imagines himself like
men raising children wasn’t an issue writing this if it was going to be bleak. another Years and Years character, Fran
for men of his generation. “When we “The end of episode 1 is bleak. I Baxter, who makes a living telling
were 18, 19, 20, it wasn’t remotely pos- loved to see the early reviews saying verbal stories (literally) by a campfire,
sible… We did discuss it later but nei- it’s ‘terrifying’. I have never had a proselytising “the shape of stories and
ther of us ever wanted it at all. You may drama described as terrifying before, the need for them”. Is that him? Telling
as well ask me, ‘am I going to live on that’s new.…” stories as the world burns?
the moon?”, he says, chuckling again. For Davies, most terrifying of all are He laughs, too modest to agree
But the family dynamic within Years the imagined future events in Trump’s entirely, but conceding the point.
and Years, and the jokes and kindnesses America. The need to keep up with “One isn’t better than the other, I’m
the Lyons clan show one another, are events across the Atlantic necessitated just saying that both exist,” he says
both warm and plausible, as well as speed during the production. He consid- before delivering that laugh again. “I
being a crucial source of comfort in the ered, then ruled out as implausible, love my job. Yes, budgets are hard and
piece. Does that point to a glimmer of writing in a third Trump term in the deadlines are hard.
optimism in the Davies world view? White House – only to later hear it being “But here I am, telling stories for a
“I could murder someone and my discussed. (“Only he would think of living. It’s not easy to get anything
family would hide me,” he laughs doing something that mad,” says Davies.) made. How lucky am I? And I’m only
again. “They would wrap me up in a “Drama is so slow,” mulls the writer. just beginning.…” n
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2019 13Mum’s
the
word
I
f anyone ever doubted that write such credible female characters.
comedy and tragedy go hand Comedy Not just Cathy, but her putative
in hand, look no further than daughter-in-law, Kelly, and super snob
the much-garlanded BBC Two Pauline, her brother’s new partner.
sitcom, Mum, starring Lesley Steve Clarke discovers How does he bring such authenticity
Manville as Cathy, a late- unexpected literary to these women? “Things like age,
middle-aged mother coming to terms gender – add to that race, religion,
with the death of her husband. influences on the sexuality or whatever, these identity
Making a TV audience laugh is
among the most difficult skills for any
award-winning badges,” says Golaszewski. “If you
think of them as just circumstances
screenwriter to learn, but to make comedies of writer and then, for the moment, dismiss
them laugh one minute and almost cry them and consider the emotions and
a few moments later is the hallmark of Stefan Golaszewski situations that the individual is going
a very special talent. through and load on to them the
That is precisely what makes Mum The big themes of sex, love, death, appropriate identities, that’s how I
such rewarding viewing and, ulti- mourning, bereavement, class and write the character.”
mately, why the programme’s creator, ageing are all treated with a tenderness It is not a simple answer, but perhaps
Stefan Golaszewski, is such a gifted and humour that has assured Mum, typical of the writer, who is a shy,
writer. The show has been quietly produced by Big Talk, of a devoted thoughtful, driven man. He adds:
pleasing audiences since it launched following during two seasons. The “Cathy is a woman with a kindness
on BBC Two in 2016. third and final series started on 15 May. and a thought for others who also
As RTS and Bafta awards juries have The ensemble cast, led by Manville happens to have lived for 60-odd years
realised, Mum is an acutely observed, as Cathy and Peter Mullan as her old and happens to be a woman. So you
throat-catching story rooted in the flame, Michael, are all brilliant, too. One feed all those things into the character.
lived experiences of ordinary British of the many extraordinary things about “But the thing I always focus on is
people. the show is Golaszewski’s ability to the individual at the centre of it and
14Left: Lesley Manville as Cathy in Mum.
Right: Stefan Golaszewski
the thing she desires and the ways in More importantly, it gave Golaszewski
which those desires are thwarted.” the opportunity to learn to write TV
Is his own mum like that? “Not par- comedy on the job. “I was very lucky
ticularly. My mum is very kind and to be 28 and be given a sitcom on BBC
generous and very loving. I think Three that no one saw and then to be
motherhood itself, as an enterprise, trusted by Kenton Allen at Big Talk and
requires so much loss of self. That be guided by Richard Laxton [the
seems to be the only way to cope with director of Him & Her, who also directed
how hard it is to be a mother, from season 1 of Mum]. And for my writing
what I’ve observed. to be made a better version of itself
“It’s very hard to talk about that as a rather than to be more normative.
man without sounding patronising, but “Writing Him & Her, I did about a
that loss of self seems to be an essen- series a year for four years. I was on set
tial component of becoming a mother. a lot of the time and in the edit. That is
I suppose that is the essential problem a lot of writing very quickly, so it was
that Cathy has – the loss of self and like a crash course. That really helped.”
how, across the three series, she can As does his complete immersion in
find that self again.” his work. He also writes for the stage
Richard Kendal
In many ways, Mum builds on some and directed seasons 2 and 3 of Mum.
of the great archetypes of British sit- “I think about writing all the time. I am
com – and then gently adds a few obsessed with it and I am obsessed
extra, excruciating emotional layers. In with the craft of it, everything to do
Pauline, there are echoes of characters with it. I’ll think about it at 3am when
like Keeping Up Appearances’ Hyacinth or
‘LOSS OF SELF I go for a wee. It’s an ever-present
The Good Life’s Margo.
As for Kelly, who can’t help but SEEMS TO BE journey.”
What, then, are his influences –
keep putting her foot in her mouth, AN ESSENTIAL apart from the obvious ones such as
Golaszewski puts it like this: “I don’t
like the phrase ‘dumb blonde’, but she COMPONENT comedy classics Keeping Up Appearances,
Ever Decreasing Circles and The Good Life?
might be perceived as that. You go into OF BECOMING It would seem they are impressively
why is she like that? I don’t think peo-
ple are stupid.… So why is she like this? A MOTHER’ eclectic and, unusually, encompass
Chaucer and some of the great
BBC
“Why does she say the wrong thing? 19th-century English storytellers.
She’s scared. What is she scared of? Of the author of The Canterbury Tales,
Why doesn’t she believe in herself? So comedy at the Edinburgh fringe, he says: “What I found fascinating
you dig into that a bit.… Golaszewski continued to follow the about him is the simplicity of what he
“In series 3, Kelly becomes one of traditional path of generations of funny wrote and the depth that he achieved
the wisest characters. In series 1, she’s people by finally getting a show com- in his writing style – total simplicity.
had an unpleasant history of relation- missioned by Radio 4. But by nuance, context and irony, the
ships but, through the affirmation that The only difference was that he hugeness that he could bring.”
Cathy and Jason (Cathy’s son) give her, wasn’t middle class. He says that he These traits are all evident in Mum.
she is able to figure out how to be originally got involved with Footlights So, too, is what Stefan Golaszewski
herself and not this shell of a person out of perversity. “I was told that Foot- says about the likes of George Eliot
trying to do a bad impression of her lights was full of posh idiots,” he recalls. (Middlemarch is his favourite novel) and
mum or trying to survive under her “So, me being angry and 19 and not Thackeray: “What is lovely about some
mum’s arrows.” posh, I thought I’d go along and annoy of those Victorian novelists is the
Mum is, in fact, the second sitcom the posh idiots. warmth and kindness of the narrative
written by Stefan Golaszewski, who is “And it wasn’t full of posh idiots. I voice. They’re quite unfashionable,
38 and whose love of words was obvi- think I still annoyed them, but they because they talk to the reader. I find
ous when he first started writing sto- asked me back. They continued to ask that lovely. There is so much empathy
ries at school in his native Essex. His me back. I thought: maybe I’ll stop in those books.”
paternal grandfather was a Polish trying to annoy the posh idiots and see He adds: “I’d say that, more than
immigrant who fled to the UK at the how this goes.” anything else, in its style Mum is more
end of the Second World War. On his But the breakthrough didn’t come influenced by books. What’s wonderful
mother’s side there is Irish blood. This until he was 28, when BBC Three hired about a good book is the deep human-
might help explain his prowess with him to write Him & Her, the flat-sharing ity and the care for everyone in the
words. sitcom that centred on the amorous book and the love of the narrative for
After writing and performing with adventures of twentysomethings the characters and the understanding
the Footlights at Cambridge (he read Becky and Steve. of them. That’s what I wanted to
English at Churchill College) and doing The show got some rave reviews. achieve.” n
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2019 15A watershed in
online regulation?
I
n May 2018, the Government to, in public at least. Facebook’s Mark
announced that, later that year, Policy Zuckerberg told Congress in April 2018
it would publish a white paper that he would welcome regulation, but
“that will cover the full range of
online harms”. In September
Stewart Purvis with the rider that it had to be the right
regulation.
2018, with no publication date welcomes the The public debate about what the
yet in sight, the Financial Times reported right regulation for the UK is has been
that ministers were grappling with how recent white paper mostly about the possibility of unin-
to force technology companies to take
more responsibility for online content.
on online harm but tended consequences. Comparisons
with North Korean-style censorship
Government intervention was said warns of unintended have been littered around rather care-
to be part of an international trend. lessly, but the Society of Editors (SoE)
Germany had introduced fines for plat- consequences has correctly focused on the potential
forms that failed to remove hate speech weak spot in the Government’s ideas.
within 24 hours, but the UK would be publication, after what the white paper “Where the white paper moves into
the first in Europe to go further. calls “a co-ordinated cross-platform areas concerning the spread of misin-
A joint letter, signed by the heads of effort to generate maximum reach of formation – so called fake news – we
the BBC, Sky, ITV, Channel 4 and BT, footage of the attack” on mosques in should all be concerned,” says the SoE
had argued for independent regulatory New Zealand, when the gunman live- and asks: “Who will decide what is
oversight of content posted on social streamed his shooting on Facebook Live. fake news?”
media platforms. However, the FT The document is full of good reasons In his reply, the DCMS Secretary of
reported that “Stewart Purvis, a former why something has to be done. No State, Jeremy Wright, accepted that the
Ofcom official, said he has yet to see a fewer than 23 “online harms in scope” breadth of the proposals means that
workable proposal for increasing over- are listed. Child exploitation and dis- they will affect “organisations of all
sight of social media companies”. tributing terrorist content top the list. sizes, including social media platforms,
A year on, we finally have the white But many of the harms on the list file-hosting sites, public discussion
paper and I, for one, think the time has are already illegal and no new offences forums, messaging services and
been well spent by the DCMS and are created. Specifically, as Paul Her- search engines”.
Home Office on proposals that could bert of Goodman Derrick has pointed But, seeking to reassure the older
indeed be workable. But the focus has out, the Government has decided media, he said, “Journalistic or editorial
now shifted to whether their plan will against creating any new offences content will not be affected by the
have unintended consequences that for hosting illegal or harmful content, regulatory framework.”
will limit freedom of speech. which he says would have been a The proposed new independent
The 98-page white paper “Online “radical challenge”. No bloggers will go regulator “will not be responsible for
harms” goes further than any previous to jail unless it is for something that is policing truth and accuracy online”.
British administration has dared to already illegal. Where services are “already well
tread. That “this is a complex and Instead, the white paper targets regulated”, by bodies such as the press
novel area for public policy” is an ele- companies such as Facebook, Snap- self-regulators Ipso and Impress,
gant understatement. chat and YouTube, which allow users Wright has said “we will not duplicate
Politicians who once seemed in awe to share or discover user-generated those efforts”.
of the tech companies now threaten to content or interact with each other In Whitehall’s mind, the news world
“disrupt the business activities of a non- online. They would have a new statu- seems to divide between the “real
compliant company”, even one based tory duty of care to take more respon- journalism” that comes from what we
outside the UK. sibility for the safety of their users and used to call Fleet Street and the “fake
The global giants could be fined or tackle harm caused by content or journalism” emanating from the Inter-
banned and their directors held crimi- activity on their services. net Research Agency of 55 Savushkina
nally liable. The days when the tech A new independent regulator, mostly Street, St Petersburg.
giants could say they were “mere con- funded by industry, would enforce it. If only life was so simple. The world
duits” for the material they distributed This approach has been generally wel- has moved on from the days when
seem long gone. comed. The tech companies are no only journalists did journalism. In the
The political momentum for change longer pushing back against new legal white paper there are moments when
became unstoppable the month before obligations as forcefully as they used you wonder if the drafters understand
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