38 Degrees members with the 80,000 strong save the BBC petitions

Today people took to the streets across the UK calling on the BBC not to cut Asian Network, BBC6 Music and the BBC website. Flashmobs took place in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow, making sure that BBC bosses know how many people oppose their cuts. We’ve got photos from some of the demos below, when we get more we’ll add them in.

Over 80,000 people signed the “Save the BBC” petitions – which 38 Degrees members presented to the BBC Trust (see the photo above).

The BBC won’t announce it’s plans for another few months but one thing is clear, tens of thousands of us don’t want the BBC to cut the services we love. So what should we do now? If you have any ideas let us know in the comments below.

The Birmingham Flashmob

The London Flashmob

No Colour busks at the London Flashmob.

Check out the bands MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/nocolouruk

The Yorkshire Flashmob

Today, we got through the final designs for the Stop the BBC  Cuts billboards, that we paid for together with thousands of 38 Degrees members chipping in. They’ll be going up near BBC offices in cities all around the UK from 10th May, and we’re hoping people will walk, cycle or drive by and give a ‘honk’ in support of our campaign when they do.

Here’s how the posters will look on the big billboards all around the UK:

Billboards will go up where BBC bosses can't miss them

Hundreds of members helped by making comments about the first design (which we shared on our blog and Facebook a few weeks ago), and the designers have taken their main comments on board, by making sure there was a way for everyone to join in as they want past the billboards and by ensuring that we mentioned the cuts that members were most concerned about: 6Music, Asian Network and the website.

Nobody working for the BBC will be able to miss our message: these huge billboards on the doorsteps of their offices will send a huge signal that thousands of us don’t want them to cut services like 6Music, Asian Network and the BBC website. By bringing together everyone taking action to stop the cuts, we’ll make it clear that we won’t stand by and let millionaire media owners dictate what happens to our BBC.

What do you think? How else can we make sure BBC bosses get our message?

Ever since the BBC bosses proposed making massive cuts to its services, including axing 6 Music and Asian Network and halving the size of its website, tens of thousands of us have expressed our anger and disappointment through signing the petition against the cuts, e-mailing our views to BBC consultation and getting in touch with our local candidates about the plans for cuts.

So far, the number of people who signed up for our petition has hit a groundbreaking 35,735, and more and more people are joining in from all over the country.

The map below shows where the people who have signed the Stop the BBC Cuts petition live. It proves that worries about cuts to the BBC really are a national concern – there are dots all over the map, from the north of Scotland all the way down to Cornwall in the south.

Please help pass on the message and save the BBC. If you haven’t signed 38 Degrees petition yet, you can join in here.

Since the election was announced thousands of us have been emailing our local Parliamentary candidates, asking them to pledge their opposition to cuts to the BBC and their support for public service broadcasting.

We’ve been looking through some of the responses from candidates that have been forwarded on to us. The great news is that many of our candidates have signed the pledge, and just want to let us know how strong their support for the BBC is. Like us, they’re worried about the BBC’s commercial rivals getting the upper hand in the debate over its future.

Some of the other most common responses have been:

It’s not a politician’s place to comment on individual editorial or programming decisions – it’s a matter for the BBC.

Axing 6 Music and Asian Network is the wrong decision, but we shouldn’t be opposing all cuts to the BBC. Some scaling back of its operations is appropriate.

The BBC needs to be offering fewer channels of better quality, so these cuts are appropriate.

What’s the best way to reply? If your candidate(s) wrote back to you with one of these (or any other) responses, please post it below so other 38 Degrees members can have a look, help you reply or just leave a comment.

If you haven’t already emailed your candidates, you can do so here.

Over the last three weeks, a massive 32,851 of us have signed our petition against the BBC cuts, and 17,817 have also emailed the BBC Trust with a formal response to the official consultation. This is a fantastic response, and if we keep up this kind of pressure we’ve got a real chance of forcing the BBC Trust to drop the proposals.

If you haven’t added your name to the petition, or emailed the BBC trustees, please do so now, and ask your family and friends to do the same.

We will be sitting down with the other key players in the campaign next week, such as the National Union of Journalists and other petition sites. Together we’ll need to make sure we have plans to keep the pressure on right up to May 25th, when the consultation ends.

It is important that we work together to think of creative and intelligent ways to keep up momentum over the next ten weeks. Please share your ideas of how we can keep the pressure on.

Today we visited the BBC Trust in central London, to deliver the first batch of our petition – 20 000 names – to the key players in the decision to ’shrink’ the BBC. We wanted to give them a taste of just how big our response to proposed cuts is going to be.

Rob, one of our volunteers, dressed up for the event as a dalek from BBC drama Dr Who. We wanted to show the people at the top of the BBC what a well-loved institution it is, by bringing along a character from one of its most popular TV shows.

After getting some amused looks from passers-by (daleks are a rare sight in central London, apparently) we reached the home of the BBC Trust, where Rob delivered the petition to a member of BBC Trust staff. We told him that tens of thousands of us oppose cuts to the BBC, especially the axing of Asian Network and 6Music. We also made sure he knew that this is only the first of many actions we’ll be taking.

We’ve sent a clear message to the BBC Trust that we won’t stand for cuts. It’s important that we keep this pressure up for the period when the proposed cuts are being considered. We’ve got some great actions planned, but in the meantime please make sure you sign our petition, and that your friends and family do the same.

Say no to cuts to the BBC, here: http://38degrees.org.uk/stop-the-BBC-cuts

UPDATE: here’s our petition delivery video:

In the past week, a massive 29,000 of us have signed the 38 Degrees petition to stop cuts to the BBC. It’s clear that we’re not willing to put up with the closure of much-loved services like 6Music and Asian Network.

Tomorrow we’ll be handing in the first batch of our petition to the BBC Trust. We want to show the BBC in person what a huge outcry there has already been about the cuts. But this doesn’t mean that our petition is ending. As more people sign up in coming weeks, we’ll be visiting the Trust again to submit thousands more names to them. And we hope that together we’ll be able to think up many more creative and clever ways of making sure that our message gets through.

We’d love you to join us when we deliver the petition. We’ll be meeting at the Meze Cafe near Great Portland Street station at 1pm tomorrow before heading to the Trust. You can find directions to the Cafe here, or give us a ring on 020 7611 4728 if you’re having trouble finding us.

If you haven’t already signed our petition, please add your voice now: http://38degrees.org.uk/stop-the-BBC-cuts

As well as the 26,000 of us who’ve signed the 38 Degrees petition against BBC cuts, lots of other groups and individuals have been speaking up this week.  We’ve been reaching out to lots of them today to find out how we can best co-ordinate our efforts for maximum impact.  There are lots of exciting things in the pipeline!

Ammo Talwar, Director of Punch, the Birmingham-based music development agency has been a prominent voice defending the value of the BBC Asian Network this week.  Here’s a guest piece from him.

Ammo Talwar MBE, Director of Punch

The BBC Asian Network – Ten Reasons Why It Works

1.    It’s exactly the right size. The BBC Asian Network is neither a cartel nor a community radio station. It’s big enough to reach the largest possible UK audience for Asian music, but not so big that competition can’t thrive beside it. As it is, the network can robustly deliver on the BBC’s Charter yet be flexible enough to scale its services professionally as resources wax and wane.

2.    It brings you the world. The BBC Asian Network showcases the best in emerging music and culture from young British Asians. It’s the only place to hear contemporary Asian sounds alongside new and important music from across the UK and the world. The station’s unique approach puts Asian music in a British context, connecting listeners beyond their community.

3.    It’s the best match of format and content. The structure and output of the BBC Asian Network has been developed and refined over more than a decade. It is a true network, grown from community roots by professional expertise. It continues to develop to meet public expectations. No brand or station created adhoc could better serve its listeners’ needs.

4.     It stands for every flavour of Asian music. As a service, the BBC Asian Network is unique in representing music culture from across the whole of the Asian diaspora. The station’s output is genuinely accessible to all, reaching out beyond borders, faith and language groups, yet always sensitive to cultural preferences and divisive local issues.

5.    It’s the flagship for British Asian media. The BBC Asian Network sprang from the energy and enterprise of British Asians who have been active in the UK media industry since the 1980s. Their spririt helps drive employment and expertise at home and generates overseas interest in the UK. The BBC Asian Network is the credible public gateway to this world.

6.    It’s what the BBC stands for. Beyond fulfilling the letter of the BBC’s Charter, the Asian Network is authentic to its spirit. The station defines its UK Asian audience as an active British community, linking Asian interests with the whole. It’s where British news, sport, soaps and stars become ‘desi’.

7.    It’s the UK’s gateway to Asia. The output of the BBC Asian Network is unique. The new music it plays distils the breadth and dynamism of British popular culture and the UK Asian experience. Britain is the birthplace of the ‘desi’ sound, and the BBC Asian Network is where Asia tunes in to it.

8.     It’s the Radio One of Asian Music. The BBC Asian Network reaches an audience that transcends its target demographic. Thousands of listeners from across all the UK’s communities tune in, and all are made welcome. Professional. contemporary and accessible, the BBC Asian Network works for everyone.

9.    It has the technology right. The BBC Asian Network uses the best delivery methods for its uniquely diverse audience demographic. It helps some communities to learn to let go of medium wave, while serving others through digital, web or iPlayer. No other station can meet the diverse needs and habits of the nation’s Asian community.

10.    It makes new music happen. With live artist recording sessions and a presence at niche music events across the country, the BBC Asian Network is instrumental in getting new music and new artists recorded. By broadcasting and promoting the UK’s Melas helps makes them popular and accessible to all.