Voice of the Listener & Viewer's anniversary appeal launched

The Voice of the Listener & Viewer’s (VLV) 21st Anniversary Appeal has been launched by Lord Puttnam at London’s British Academy today.
The appeal will feature a number of fundraising events that will include a series of special lectures by leading broadcasters including Sir David Attenborough and Charles Wheeler.
The appeal, which runs from July 2004 to July 2005, seeks to raise the equivalent of £75,000 a year over the next three years.
Lord Puttnam said: "The arrival of satellite, cable and multi-channel television, and of a range of new digital communication services, together with new forms of regulation, in particular Ofcom, have greatly increased the need for VLV’s work. Add to that the demands of the current review of the BBC’s Charter, as well as digital switchover, and VLV’s workload has more than doubled over the past two years.
"To ensure that VLV has the resources to meet current and future challenges, VLV‘s 21st Anniversary Appeal aims to raise the equivalent of £75,000 a year over the next three years. This will allow VLV to make the case for public service broadcasting in new and more effective ways, all the while continuing to show just important it is for the educational, democratic and cultural well-being of the UK."
Included in VLV’s future plans are a Broadcasting Awareness Week, planned for February 2005, and a Student Essay Competition, which will allow students and young people, using video or the written word, to look ahead to the future of public service broadcasting in the digital age.
The Broadcasting Awareness Week, to be held from 21st to 27th February 2005, is designed to highlight the crucial role that public service broadcasting plays in the UK’s national and community life and in fostering democracy and culture.
A Student Essay Competition will also be set up, with entries to be submitted either as a maximum 2,000 word essay or as a 10-minute video. The subject will be 'Public Service Broadcasting in the Digital Age' and the competition will be launched in October 2004.
The actual anniversary month of November will see a special celebratory lunch to be held in the House of Lords on 29th November, with a keynote speech by Melvyn Bragg.
(gmcg)