評論
打印
Running the BBC
經營BBC
Auntie's dilemma
姨媽的困境
Lord Patten's successor will be transient
彭定康爵士的繼任者的位子肯定坐不久
A BBC comedy, “W1A”, sends up blame-shifting managers and corporate gobbledygook at the nation's broadcaster. Real life in the upper echelons of the British Broadcasting Corporation has been similar, albeit with fewer laughs. Now the resignation of Lord Patten, chairman of the BBC Trust, which governs the Beeb, has thrown up fresh uncertainty.
BBC的一臺喜劇節目“W1A”將國家廣播電臺中善于推卸責任的管理者以及該組織內的官樣文章披露給民眾。英國廣播公司的上層實際上差不多就是那樣，盡管很少有人能笑出來了。如今，BBC的負責人、其信托基金主席彭定康辭職了，讓該企業更加風雨飄搖。
The timing of Lord Patten's resignation, following a heart bypass operation, is inconvenient. The former member of Margaret Thatcher's cabinet was due to oversee talks with politicians over the renewal of the corporation's ten-year royal charter, which expires at the end of 2016. But even those who admired his unruffled style could not claim that his three years at the helm have been an unqualified success.
彭定康爵士的引退緊接著他的心臟搭橋手術，時間頗不湊巧。這位瑪格麗特.撒切爾時期的內閣成員，原本要監督與政府領導人之間的就十年皇家特許執照更新展開的磋商。此特許證將于2016年到期。但即使那些嫉妒其仕途平順的人也不能說他掌舵這三年表現不及格。
A laggardly response to revelations of sexual abuse by the late Jimmy Savile, a TV presenter, looked complacent. The Savile affair also did for George Entwistle, Lord Patten's candidate for the post of director-general, after only 54 days in the job. A digital media project cost 100m and never worked. Few now believe the Trust's multiple remit of representing the interests of viewers as well as regulating and cheerleading for the BBC is sustainable. As new technology and changing viewing habits make the annual licence fee harder to justify, better accountability is called for.
該臺對電視主持人吉米.薩維爾最近的性丑聞反應很慢，看上去相當驕傲自滿。薩維爾事件也讓喬治.恩特維斯爾措手不及。他是彭定康欽點的總裁候選人，剛接手工作54天。一個數字媒體計劃花了1億英鎊（1億7千萬），但卻沒起什么作用。幾乎沒人相信信托基金數次撥款代表了觀眾的利益，或有助于BBC的管理，或者鼓舞BBC發揮作用。新技術和變動不居的觀看習慣都讓按年收取的牌照費愈發難以計算，因此需要更高的透明性。
The priority for the next BBC chairman will probably be to find the smoothest way to oversee the transition from the Trust to an outside regulator. Favoured candidates for this evanescent role might include Sir Howard Stringer, erstwhile boss of Sony, or Marjorie Scardino, former chief executive of the Pearson Group (part-owner of The Economist).
下一任BBC主席的首要任務可能是找到最快捷的方法，來監督完成從信托基金到某個獨立的外部監管的轉換。這個難坐的位子有幾個候選人，最可能的包括曾任索尼CEO的霍華德.斯特林格爵士，或者強生集團的前任董事長馬喬里?斯卡迪諾（經濟學人的所有者之一）。
Bequeathing the main supervisory role to Ofcom, the regulator which already oversees privacy and taste and decency at the BBC, might appear sensible. But that would create an alarmingly mighty regulator: Ofcom also deals with telecoms as well as all commercial broadcasting.
大部分監管權將移交給通信管理局。而這個新的監管者早已經進駐BBC，對其保密性、品味和莊重都有所了解，因此可能會十分理智。但這也可能導致權力過度集中，因此值得警惕：通信管理局既監督電信部門，也監管商業電臺。
Some, including the present director-general, Lord Hall, would prefer a more bespoke solution—a kind of “OfBeeb”, to keep Auntie in line and ensure the corporation does not crush commercial competition. Whatever the final outcome, Lord Patten's resignation looks like the end of an era, in which the BBC's good health was guaranteed by benign, if barely accountable, Establishment types.
現任總裁霍爾男爵在內的一些人更傾向于一個更有的放矢的解決辦法—“OfBeeb”方案。該方案可以讓BBC維持原樣運行，又保證其不會破壞商業競爭。無論最終結果如何，彭定康的辭職看上去都是一個時代的結束。那時BBC的良好運作都由平易近人的通情達理的規定來支撐，雖然不那么透明。翻譯：王化起 校對：毛慧
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