James Boyle is one of the leading public figures in the British arts world with a long track record in broadcasting in particular. His take-no-prisoners style has earned him numerous plaudits, but also resulted in controversy, most famously at
BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
.
At the BBC
Boyle spent more than 25 years at the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. A series of high-profile posts culminated in four years as head of
BBC Radio ScotlandBBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...
and four years as controller of
BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
. At Radio Scotland he oversaw sweeping changes which – while generating a mixed mailbag from listeners whose favourite presenter had been axed – led to the station's being named UK Radio Station of the Year at the broadcasting industry’s Sony Awards.
In 1996 Boyle was appointed to head Radio Four, the UK's premier radio station. Boyle overhauled almost the entire schedule. Critics outside and inside the BBC questioned the number of changes, and their timing, and he was nicknamed "MacBirt", in reference to his being a Scottish version of BBC Director-General Lord Birt
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19970714/ai_n14124643. However, after the changes bedded in, they were shown to have been successful, with many of the new shows receiving acclaim, including
John PeelJohn Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
’s quirky
Home TruthsHome Truths was a weekly BBC Radio 4 programme which began on 11 April 1998 and was usually hosted by the DJ John Peel until his death in October 2004. In the Saturday 9-10am slot, it gradually became one of Radio 4's most successful programmes....
, arts program Front Row, and lighthearted current affairs show
Broadcasting HouseBroadcasting House is a current affairs programme on BBC Radio 4, presented by Paddy O'Connell. It is broadcast every Sunday between 09:00 and 10:00....
.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/272405.stm Boyle announced his departure in 2000, leading
The ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
newspaper to run the headline: “He Came, He Conquered, He Quit.” Just after Boyle left, Radio Four, like Radio Scotland before it, was named Radio Station of the Year at the Sony Awards.
The Scottish Arts Council
After leaving the BBC, Boyle served as Chairman of the
Scottish Arts CouncilThe Scottish Arts Council is a Scottish public body that distributes funding from the Scottish Government, and is the leading national organisation for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland...
(SAC), the agency that has control over the Scottish government’s arts budget. Arts Council Chief Executive Tessa Jackson left shortly afterwards
http://www.scottisharts.org.uk/1/latestnews/1001873.aspx. He was then appointed Chair of the Cultural Commission, a body set up to review Scottish arts and cultural funding and provide recommendations for the next quarter century.
http://www.culturalcommission.org.uk/cultural/cc_display_homeed71.html The centerpiece of the Cultural Commission’s report – issued after a year of investigation and deliberations – was a recommendation that the government increase arts spending by £100 million (approximately $190 million), enshrine “cultural rights,” and overhaul and simplify the arts bureaucracy (including, ironically, by getting rid of the SAC, which Boyle had just left).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4123078.stm
Boyle had a public run-in with Scottish Culture Minister
Patricia FergusonPatricia Josephine Ferguson is a Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Maryhill, a seat which she has held since 1999.- Background :...
when she announced her support for an Academy of Scotland just before the commission was set to unveil a similar policy.
http://www.sundayherald.com/50449 Boyle denounced Ferguson’s “lack of integrity.” Id. After the Cultural Commission report was published, Ferguson was publicly accused of trying to bury it.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20051211/ai_n15917306 Eventually, the Scottish government adopted a version of the report’s main proposals, increasing arts spending by £20 million, restructuring the public arts agencies, and agreeing to implement cultural rights.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2006/01/19093710
Public service
Boyle’s career in public service includes many appointments. Until 2008, he served as a Commissioner on the U.K.'s
Civil Service Commission-Chairmen:*John Houghton MHK, 2004-date*George Waft MLC, 1996-2004*Clare Christian MLC, 1981-1982*Noel Cringle MLC, 1992-1996*Walter Gilbey, years unknown...
, the body tasked with appointing Britain's senior civil servants. Boyle was Chairman of the
City of LiteratureUNESCO's City of Literature program is part of its Creative Cities Network which was launched in 2004. The Network was born out of UNESCO's Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity initiative which was created in 2002...
Initiative, and spearheaded the effort that led to Edinburgh being selected by
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
as the inaugural City of Literature.
http://www.cityofliterature.com
Currently Boyle is a director of the London public relations company Franklin Rae
http://www.franklinrae.com and a member of the board of governors (known as the Court) of Edinburgh’s
Napier UniversityEdinburgh Napier is one of the largest higher education institutions in Scotland with over 17,000 students, including nearly 5,000 international students, from more than 100 nations worldwide.-History:...
. In 2008 he was appointed Chairman of the
British CouncilThe British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
's Scottish National Committee.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/new/
In 2005, the
University of EdinburghThe University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
honored Boyle with the degree of Doctor honoris causa. Boyle previously received honorary doctorates from
Napier UniversityEdinburgh Napier is one of the largest higher education institutions in Scotland with over 17,000 students, including nearly 5,000 international students, from more than 100 nations worldwide.-History:...
and the
University of AberdeenThe University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
. He is also an honorary professor at the
University of StirlingThe University of Stirling is a campus university founded by Royal charter in 1967, on the Airthrey Estate in Stirling, Scotland.-History and campus development:...
.
When at the BBC, Boyle wrote many scripts for radio and a number of TV plays for educational television. He collects first editions of twentieth century literature. Boyle and his wife Marie live in
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. He has three sons and three grandsons.
External links
- http://www.culturalcommission.org.uk/cultural/cc_display_plain7512.html
- http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2004/04/5351
- http://www.abdn.ac.uk/mediareleases/release.php?id=427
- http://www.britishcouncil.org/scotland-lectures-arts-and-culture-2.htm
- http://www-fms.stir.ac.uk/staff-film-media/j.boyle.html
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4123078.stm
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/272405.stm
- http://www.franklinrae.com