BBC Archives closure
Ongoing petition of importance for business and organizational historians
There is a small team of historians who are campaigning against the BBC's recent decision to end the opening of new files for research. You may have seen an article about them in The Observer a couple of weeks ago https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/historians-dismayed-scandal-bbc-cutting-access-written-archives .
They are greatly concerned that the effective ending of access to around two thirds of BBC files (those that have not been vetted) will mean the end of independent research not only into BBC history but far wider social, political and cultural histories of the twentieth century. For this reason, they have published an open letter https://tinyurl.com/bbcwaccampaign which 500 historians, researchers and writers have now signed.
One of the campaigners has reached out to the business historical community in the UK to see if there are colleagues willing to support this (I imagine there are). In case you are interested, follow the link or contact the individuals leading the petition:
Join the campaign to protect the future of independent research at the BBC Written Archives Centre
The following text is an open letter expressing the concern of historians and researchers about changes to services at the BBC Written Archives. A news report about our campaign can be found here.
If you would like to join our campaign to secure continued independent access to previously unvetted files, and to be kept up to date, please write to bbcwaccampaign@gmail.com . Please also provide your professional affiliation in the email should you wish for us to add your name to the letter. Note: you cannot add your name directly to this page.
To express your own concerns, and we encourage you to do so - please contact heritage@bbc.co.uk .
Thank you for reading.
Ian Greaves, Dr Kate Murphy and Professor John Wyver
August 2025