Lesley Riddoch: Why we must pay attention to Tory attacks on Channel 4

That might not seem the right question to ask since news broke that Boris Johnson intends to press ahead with privatisation – a move the Tories have been plotting for the past 25 years.

After all, the downsides of flogging a robust, innovative broadcaster to the private sector don’t need much consideration for progressive Scots.

Firstly, can a channel owned by someone like the US Discovery Channel possibly be better for viewers than the current publicly owned Channel 4? Mmm. Let’s think. Award-winning Channel 4 News versus patchy, woeful GB News, in which Discovery has a stake. No contest.

Second, why is the UK Government suddenly so keen on privatisation after it’s been trying to convince critics it’s headed in the opposite direction – appearing to nationalise British Rail, writing off NHS Trust debt in England and planning to axe part-private GP commissioning (only to centralise local decision making in Whitehall, of course). Pseudo nationalisation is the latest part of Boris Johnson’s interventionist shtick – along with levelling up. How does that policy fit with selling off a channel that’s just shifted much of its operation to Leeds, Bristol and Glasgow?

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Why privatise Channel 4 when its own management sees no need for liberation from publicly owned status? Chief executive Alex Mahon says the channel is holding its own in the fight for advertising revenue: “As a board we have not been pushing for greater financial liberation.” Indeed, Channel 4 weathered the pandemic pretty well, with revenues falling just 5% in 2020 after the ad market collapsed and the company slashed its content budget by £150 million. But this year, Channel 4’s revenue is forecast to top £1 billion for the first time ever – and the bulk of profits will be ploughed back into programme-making.

English Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden claims a privatised channel could sell programmes around the world, something it’s currently barred from doing. But that’s because independent producers retain international rights and in the Channel 4 model they prosper through worldwide sales – not the broadcaster.

As motives go, political revenge looks a whole lot more likely than tender concern for Channel 4’s ability to fight off competition from streaming services. Indeed, if you’ve been alive and alert in the last few “eventful” years, you’ll know exactly what this grudge match is all about.

Channel 4’s former news chief Dorothy Byrne publicly called Boris Johnson a liar during a speech at the Edinburgh television festival in 2019, and during the subsequent General Election, the broadcaster “empty-chaired” Boris Johnson, replacing him with a melting ice sculpture during a leaders’ debate on climate change. After that, Tory aides said they would target Channel 4, sparking an 18-month C4 News boycott by UK Government ministers.

That changed recently, with Boris Johnson finally speaking to political editor Gary Gibbons in the most robust, persistent and politely challenging interview with the Prime Minister I’ve seen in years. Doubtless this détente was intended to muddy the water and remove evidence of the Conservatives’ malign intent from the scene of the impending crime.

But Channel 4 (and particularly C4 News) was established with a mission to provoke and innovate and can hardly be blamed for fulfilling its brief 100%.

Challenge is always important in a democracy.

But it’s more vital now tactful conformity has become the general broadcasting default than it was in 1982 when C4 was set up by that old revolutionary Margaret Thatcher. Back then BBC and ITV output was also relatively frisky.

In the noughties, the BBC had the stuffing knocked out of it after losing its battle over the Iraq War with Tony Blair and since then a series of non-journalistic Tory placemen have reduced BBC News to its current unbearably limp and tame state.

And that’s not even counting objections by Yessers to BBC news coverage of Scotland (looking at you, Sarah Smith) and Aunty’s scheduling obsession with safe costume drama and documentaries about the Royal Family. For simply commissioning the fabulous The Windsors, Channel 4 should have our undying support.

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I’ll admit I’m prejudiced. Partly because I once worked for Channel 4, presenting political programmes like the People’s Parliament and Powerhouse. But mostly because decades spent making such programmes – on TV and radio – leave me speechless with admiration for the continuing energy of the 40-year-old channel and its iconic nightly news programme.

Channel 4 News regularly sweeps the boards at award ceremonies, delivered outstanding coverage throughout the pandemic and manages to weave foreign coverage throughout its programming, including the excellent Undiscovered World, which regularly takes up the final half-hour of C4 News.

No other broadcaster gives such prime-time space to “obscure” international issues. And no other broadcaster encourages recruits from diverse backgrounds to change the whole news agenda, not just the visual appearance of their flagship programme. In my humble opinion, the whole news team including presenters, editors and reporters are simply excellent.

Some Yessers object to the forensic probing of Nicola Sturgeon’s government by Scotland correspondent Ciaran Jenkins. Actually, that’s his job. And thank God it’s being done by a tenacious hack without any evidence of an axe-grinding agenda. Fair criticism – not its total absence – is all we should ask for in a free world.

My broadcasting career is over, but Channel 4 News reminds me of the best moments – and somehow, they produce them apparently effortlessly, night every night.

That’s special and arises from the channel’s special public sector control and special remit – to commission distinctive programming, serve diverse audiences across the UK, reinvest profits in new shows and thus funnel cash to independent production companies which make all the programmes.

In the broadcasting eco-system, Channel 4 is a lynchpin. That’s why the Co-op Party wants C4 to be mutually owned by the taxpayer. It’s why singer Tanita Tikaram tweeted, “Oliver Dowden the Dido Harding of culture … now has his dull propaganda channel [but] won’t be happy until he’s destroyed every broadcaster who holds power to account.”

Even David Attenborough has weighed in against privatisation.

But though the veteran naturalist has clout, he is not God.

Some hope Number 10 will struggle to find a buyer during their sham consultation, without first making changes to Channel 4’s remit – which would be politically problematic.

But without a real fuss, vengeful Tories will press ahead with this catastrophic mistake.

So why should Scots care?

What has Channel 4 ever done for us?

Well ask yourself this.

Is there another TV channel that will cover the next indyref campaign more fairly?

Is there a better role model for the publicly owned but politically independent broadcaster we need to have in an independent Scotland?

If free speech, diversity and creativity really matter to Scots, and support for the plucky underdog doesn’t just apply to fitba (sorry), then we must ensure Channel 4 survives and thrives.

Just call it enlightened self-interest.