Legendary film and television director, Ken Loach will join the panel, chaired by Lord (David) Puttnam at the Writing on the Wall Festival event on 4th May
A Future for public service television inquiry event in Liverpool
“Does Television Represent Us?”
Wednesday 4th May 2016 , 7pm, The Black-E, 1 Great George Street, L1 5EW
Film producer and Labour Peer Lord (David) Puttnam brings his Inquiry into the Future of Television to Liverpool with a lively panel discussion event, open to the public, which he will chair. The event, co-hosted by Liverpool’s Writing on the Wall festival, will also discuss interim findings from a new study looking into at how TV has contributed to political debate in Liverpool, carried out by researchers at the Hansard Society.
Speakers including Ken Loach, Phil Redmond CBE, Ruth Fox (Chair, Hansard Society) and Cat Lewis (Nine Lives Media and Nations & Regions rep for indie producers’ association Pact) will discuss whether TV reflects the lifestyles and opinions of people across the UK, or if it just a mouthpiece for the ‘London bubble’. To what extent does TV offer a space to talk politics or express the different lifestyles of people across all the regions of the UK?
The Inquiry event wants to hear from producers and writers committed to making TV more relevant to people wherever they live as well as from viewers themselves. It is one of seven events across the UK that will inform the Future for Public Service Television Inquiry which plans to report in June 2016.
The Inquiry, www.futureoftv.org.uk, which is based at the Media and Communications department, Goldsmiths, University of London, is set up to consider the nature, purpose and role of public service television today and into the future. It aims to address ways in which public service content can be most effectively nurtured taking into consideration a growing range of services, platforms and funding models, continuous technological development and audience fragmentation particularly amongst younger and diverse audiences.
Lord Puttnam said, ‘It is extremely important that voices from all over the UK, especially from vibrant cities like Liverpool, should be heard and reflected in this wide-ranging review of public service television. This event, with its distinguished panel of speakers and participation from the audience, will make a significant contribution to our research and findings. We are keen to hear from people in Liverpool, either at this debate or more generally in submissions to the Inquiry’
Ruth Fox, Chair, Hansard Society, said, “Our research shows that more people are likely to engage with politics at the local level than the national, and for most of them television is their main source of political news and information. But if the focus is on politics as seen from Westminster, rather than reflecting a diversity of ideas and views from across the regions, then the diet of political news that is served up may hinder rather than help people’s political engagement across the country. So I’m looking forward to discussing these ideas with people in Liverpool to get their take on how television covers politics in their area.’
