[cma-l] From Chair of Council

[Phil Shepherd]

I respond to some of the recent feedback on the pre-election press release
issued by Council last week.   I write in part to confirm that Council
listen closely to the opinions of members expressed on the lists and
elsewhere, just as we heed the expert advice of our staff team.  Collating
this advice and bringing our own experience to the mix, we try accordingly
to steer a course that will best benefit our sector.  We are elected to do
that by you as members, and we take our responsibilities seriously.
Contributors to the list will rightly be quick to pick us up when we get
things wrong and we welcome constructive criticism ­ indeed, without it we
wouldn¹t be able to proceed.

As practitioners or ex-practitioners ourselves,  all of us on Council are
fully aware of the difficult challenges we face - these apply across the
sector,  not just in licensed radio, albeit this being the great success
story of which we are rightly proud,  yet which is still so­ in Anthony
Everitt¹s words -  Œhobbled by poverty¹.

All of us on Council support staff in constantly seeking creative solutions
to getting more money into the CRF and the sector as a whole, and in this
endeavour we are sometimes successful.   For the avoidance of doubt however,
none of us believe that holding out a begging bowl is any kind of answer -
again from all of our experiences we have surely learnt that it's when we
show what we can do and what value we can deliver that the money follows
(eventually!)  

We have to remember we are not the only game in town and there are plenty of
others who believe they are equally entitled to funding whatever we may
think of the respective value of their claims.

So taking everything into account, we judge our Election Campaign Letter (at
the CMA website and intended for direct approaches to MPs and candidates)
supported by the recent press release to be the best twin track approach.
We hope everyone will get behind these initiatives.  We looked closely at
the other options including the 1% / 2% of the licence fee arguments but in
our collective view strategically they didn¹t add up.  Despite the appeal of
a simple sound bite, the complexities of the issues render that approach
ineffectual. 
  
We reach these decisions on everyone¹s behalf - not because we are under the
sway of the BBC or anyone else but because we are trying to build a more
sustainable future for the sector, rather than chasing illusory quick wins.
We have worked hard to make progress with those colleagues in traditional
broadcasting and in government who see the value of what we do, and have put
in place (on behalf of and with the support of members) an MOU to take that
relationship forward - notwithstanding the current gross inequalities of
funding. 

We are a membership organisation and it¹s vital to air these debates, and
vital too that those who are prepared to devote their time to the wider
sector come to the AGM and make their views heard, put themselves up for
election to Council if they so wish.  The vitality of the CMA depends on the
active participation of members, the elected Council doesn¹t / can¹t have
all the answers but comes together with integrity to take us all forward,
not to self-serve, censor debate or shrink from the complexities of the
wider struggle.  We welcome all those who are up for doing the same.