Uncertain Vision

The BBC is the world's most famous and powerful cultural institution and remains the gold standard for broadcasters on every continent. Uncertain Vision is the definitive account of the BBC in the last decade, an engrossing and penetrating take on the corporation at a critical and fascinating period in its history. Georgina Born has conducted the most extensive independent research ever inside the BBC. In this path-breaking book she blends together reportage and cultural history, social analysis and cultural criticism, offering both a panorama of the BBC's history and an intimate portrait of the people that make it up - producers and journalists, channel controllers and strategists. Uncertain Vision dissects director-general John Birt's policies to reveal how his 'new managerialism' undermined the creativity of the BBC and fuelled television's decline. It probes Greg Dyke's reign as director-general and the tumultuous events around the Hutton inquiry, and looks to the future: to the threats posed by escalating government interventions, and to the opportunities and challenges of digital broadcasting and new media.