A vibrant Bush House network directs me to an excellent piece on the cultural importance and benefits of having a separate radio drama production team for the World Service. Written by former producer and department head Gordon House, for the Writer's Guild of Great Britain, it makes the case against closure (due in April) in some detail. And there's a petition running, so far with 260-odd signatories, including names such as Juliet Stevenson, Paula Wilcox and Martin Jarvis.
The case for stand-alone departments is hard to maintain in the face of 16% cuts (which apparently escalate to 25% at World Service). But 2011 is less than a year before the coming together of domestic and international teams at the redeveloped Broadcasting House. Mark Thompson and Tim Davie ought to find some way of enshrining and preserving the best of the World Service team, and at least some of their output, ahead of that move. Ir would surely be in the spirit of Putting Quality First, and a tangible signal of a caring intent towards talent at Bush.
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