Tag: BBC

BBC and AHRC select New Generation Thinkers 2026

Stuart Mitchell

Five of the UK’s most promising early-career academics have been selected as this year’s New Generation Thinkers to help shape Radio 4 programming. Every year, the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) hold a nationwide search for the best new arts and humanities academics with ideas that will resonate with a wider audience. These New Generation Thinkers represent some of the best early career researchers in the country. They will benefit from training and development with AHRC. They will also spend a year being mentored by producers…

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University of Sheffield academic teams up with former BBC producer to launch “sector-merging” research communications agency

Stuart Mitchell

Dr. Rivka Smith, an award-winning academic and criminologist from the University of Sheffield, has joined forces with Edwin Buckley, communications expert and former BBC producer, to launch Creative Smarts, a new research communications agency based in Manchester. Combining Edwin’s expertise in media and communications, with Rivka’s in-depth knowledge of the academic sector, the agency aims to bridge the gap between complex research and creative, accessible communications. Rivka and Edwin have known each other since they were 11-years-old, when they were cast in a local pantomime production of Babes in the…

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BBC publishes Net Zero Transition Plan

Stuart Mitchell

The BBC has published its first Climate Transition Plan, detailing how it intends to be Net Zero by 2050. This forms part of the Corporation’s commitment to building a sustainable BBC and wider media industry. The BBC has been making significant progress towards its science-based targets, aligning a commitment to world-renowned natural history programming with ambitious and tangible actions off-screen. From reducing emissions on acclaimed drama Blue Lights by replacing diesel fuel with HVO in generators and production trucks, to replacing refrigeration chillers and gas-fired boilers with heat pumps in…

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Long-term Net Zero targets approved to build a BBC for the future

Stuart Mitchell

New ambitious BBC Net Zero targets have been verified by the globally-respected Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Building on our existing Near-Term Targets to halve emissions by 2030, our Long-Term Targets to reduce all emissions by at least 90% by 2050 have now been approved, and under this standard and definition we will be Net Zero by 2050. The SBTi standard requires a 90% reduction in emissions with no more than 10% offset by 2050, favouring emissions reductions rather than offsetting to achieve true Net Zero. We recognise that climate change…

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Sir Lenny Henry Centre to review BBC’s £112 million Creative Diversity commitment

Stuart Mitchell

The BBC has commissioned the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity (LHC) to review its three-year Creative Diversity commitment of £112m. The BBC’s commitment of at least £100m of existing TV commissioning budget and £12m in Radio covers content broadcast between April 2021 – March 2024, with the criteria and definitions established in consultation with the LHC in 2020. The commitment is the biggest financial investment in on-air inclusion in the industry. Within the first two years the BBC had invested a total of £128.5m into TV & Radio…

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