OpenDemocracy: Can we trust the BBC?

Event information

Can we trust the BBC?

The UK's most important cultural and current affairs institution is in turmoil, its future uncertain. The most recent scandals, Savile and McAlpine, alone shake its foundations: the apparent burying of the story of an alleged serial pedophile and the false implication of a Tory ex-minister of the same crime. Heads have rolled and are rolling. A spanking new Director General has gone, a new one put in place by the same 'old boys'. The enemies of public broadcasting are delighted. The Murdoch press smells the blood of others. And now we have the Leveson report to chew over.

The Corporation talks of "re-gaining the trust of the public". But perhaps the BBC needs to belong more to us, the British people, and feel answerable to us, if the meltdown of management is to be solved by becoming a broadcaster fit for the 21st century.

How can it be open, transparent, engage with the creative digital age and above all give us creative and relevant drama, music and documentaries? What would such a BBC look like and how would we get it?

If the BBC wants to revive it needs to learn to trust and listen not 'know best'. In this spirit, openDemocracy invites you to an open discussion on the future of the BBC. It will be kicked off by the panellists named below, but the main participants will be you, the public.

Panellists - Peter Oborne (chief political commentator of The Telegraph), Dr Jacky Davis (Co-Chair of NHS Consultants Association, founder member of Keep Our NHS Public), Omar El-Khairy (writer for stage and screen), Anthony Barnett (founder of openDemocracy).

This is an openDemocracy / OurKingdom event.