Dan Hancox

Dan Hancox is a freelance writer for The Guardian and others, interested in radical politics, protest, and pop culture in Britain, Spain and beyond. His books include Utopia and the Valley of Tears, Fight Back! and Kettled Youth.

Editor's blog: "we want to hear your views" - focus groups, feedback and the BBC

We publish the response to a recently filed ourBeeb Freedom of Information request on the BBC's little-known Audience Councils and its other feedback mechanisms. Are these focus groups and 'market research' surveys sufficient? If not, how might they be improved?

By Dan Hancox

/ 22 Aug 2012

ourBeeb podcast 2: Claire Enders on the ever growing BBC news monopoly

Part two of an ourBeeb discussion about the challenges and opportunities facing the BBC, featuring the CEO of Enders Analysis. What future for democracy, when the BBC becomes a news-providing monopoly?

By Dan Hancox

/ 17 Aug 2012

ourBeeb podcast 1: Claire Enders, Britain's leading media analyst

The first audio highlights of an ourBeeb discussion about the challenges and opportunities facing the BBC, featuring the CEO of Enders Analysis.

By Dan Hancox

/ 10 Aug 2012

Editor's blog: Radio 4 and social class - the fall-out

What role does privilege play at the BBC in 2012 - and in the media at large? An ourBeeb survey into class and Radio 4 has touched a nerve in the press, and on the station itself.

By Dan Hancox

/ 2 Aug 2012

The BBC and the future of broadcasting: special report from Enders Analysis

The first report from a scintillating ourBeeb discussion with Claire Enders, Britain's leading media analyst, finds the BBC at a digital crossroads, but holding up remarkably well.

By Dan Hancox

/ 31 Jul 2012

Editor's blog: How the Daily Mail's anti-BBC vitriol stops us talking openly about its future

The Daily Mail's loathing of the BBC has this week given the world a 'scoop' which has turned out to be utter nonsense; yet with a tiny, buried apology, the damage is done.

By Dan Hancox

/ 26 Jul 2012

How much did the BBC spend on the Hackney Weekend - and why won’t they tell us?

Should the BBC's mission to inform, educate and entertain incorporate hosting free music festivals for 100,000 people? Last month's Hackney Weekend was generally deemed a big success, but why aren't we allowed to know how much it cost, when we paid for it?

By Dan Hancox

/ 19 Jul 2012

Editor's blog: Crowd-sourcing FOIs - what do you want to know about your Beeb?

The BBC is subject to the Freedom of Information Act, and given how little transparency there is in many of its operations, we want to submit your FOI requests for you - so send them on!

By Dan Hancox

/ 13 Jul 2012

Editor's Blog: why did the BBC spend £189,000 of our money on choosing a new Director General?

After an opaque, expensive process involving a slick HR head-hunting firm, Director of BBC Vision George Entwistle has been announced as the next Director General, taking over from Mark Thompson in the autumn. The devil, as ever, is in the detail.

By Dan Hancox

/ 4 Jul 2012

Editor’s blog: opaque, remote, and unaccountable - the BBC needs its own glasnost

After Lis Howell's survey of her journalism students, and calls from right and left alike for some democratic accountability at the top of the BBC, one conclusion is clear: the Beeb needs to open up its operations to the people who pay for it.

By Dan Hancox

/ 20 Jun 2012

Editor's blog: ourBeeb in The Observer, and BBC Jubilee coverage

Henry Porter's searing critique of the BBC's lack of openness and accountability struck a chord with The Observer's readers, and with the purpose of ourBeeb. But how do we best make our case to the institution - through petitions, or argument?

By Dan Hancox

/ 12 Jun 2012

Editor's blog: a Scottish Broadcasting Corporation?

BBC Director General Mark Thompson addressed MSPs on issues facing the BBC north of the border, most notably the huge, careful coverage they will need to provide of the Scottish independence referendum

By Dan Hancox

/ 29 May 2012