Culture

Criticising the critics (2)

January 26, 2009
The Beeb: definitely not London-centric
The Beeb: definitely not London-centric

Back in November 2004, BBC2 launched its new weekly arts programme, The Culture Show, a sort of idiot younger brother to its previous attempt at a regular arts magazine show, The Late Show. It began with a hymn to an ambitious new arts centre in West Bromwich called The Public in a desperate attempt to seem inclusive and "regional" rather than commit the worst BBC sin of seeming London-centric. The Public was not yet complete and its original budget was £38.3m. The Culture Show enthused wildly and forgot one of the basic jobs of the critic: to have some kind of critical distance. The Public has already cost more than £63m and yesterday the Arts Council pulled the plug on funding for its gallery. It will be interesting to see how The Culture Show covers this.