Climate change charities lobbied The Archers
The Archers was lobbied by charities to feature more climate change storylines, The Telegraph can reveal.
Two Left-wing charities said they had engaged with the creators of the long-running BBC Radio 4 soap opera on how climate change affects the "everyday story of country folk".
Environmental issues have featured in recent plotlines, with characters Kirsty Miller and Rex Fairbrother pushing for the reintroduction of beavers, and Tom Archer seeking to build a climate-controlled greenhouse to guard against unpredictable weather.
Attempts by Left-wing campaigners to influence BBC programming have been laid bare by a Telegraph investigation.
Millions of pounds have been donated to narrative change charities such as Heard, which seek to promote their agenda by influencing television and radio programming.
The BBC has said it has full editorial control, and outside organisations do not have the power to influence its content.
'Turn up urgency' on climate action
The Archers, which has been running for seven decades, has a dedicated farming and countryside adviser who works with scriptwriters to ensure the show represents rural issues accurately.
UK-registered Heard aims to "shift public attitudes, norms and policy preferences" by lobbying the media. It runs a programme called Climate Stories That Work, intended to "turn up the urgency" on climate action.
As part of this programme, the charity said it had "engaged with teams from The One Show, Shop Well for the Planet, Bitesize and The Archers" in 2021.
Heard reported that its messaging experts worked on a BBC Earth social impact campaign that featured celebrities recreating Sir David Attenborough's narration over Planet Earth III clips. The charity provided insights and natural history experts.
A number of experts from different bodies also provided insight on the project for the BBC.
Okre, another narrative change charity, also said it had had meetings with the team behind The Archers. The group seeks to work with the industry to develop entertainment that "changes public perceptions".
In a report, the charity said that it held a number of workshops on health and climate in 2023, with attendees including "executive leads from BBC shows such as Casualty… and EastEnders".
It reported that another meeting "included representatives from The Jeremy Vine Show, BBC Radio 5 Live's impact journalism team [and] The Archers".
'BBC has full editorial control'
Narrative change campaigners have worked to influence the public using the media, including by lobbying CBBC producers and arranging for small boat migrants to appear in the audience of Question Time , The Telegraph revealed last week.
This week, The Telegraph disclosed that a campaigner working with narrative change groups, Ade Lamuye, is a story editor on EastEnders , overseeing plotlines for the BBC One soap.
A BBC spokesman said: "The BBC has full editorial control over all its content.
"It is common practice across the media industry to engage with charities, among others, for research purposes and to help understand different perspectives when working on programmes or news stories.
"However, the BBC has strict guidelines to ensure impartiality and editorial independence."
