Two BBC journalists have launched a mobile studio and office project called “Bike Bureau” in the Netherlands, where they will commute on an electric cargo bike with a complete broadcasting setup integrated within the bike, aiming to deliver TV and radio news in a “climate conscious way”.
The project, a “pragmatic and sustainable way” to carry out mobile journalism, has been in the works for the last few years, according to the BBC and is the brainchild of Anna Holligan, foreign correspondent at The Hague and Kate Vandy, senior journalist based in Brussels.
They chose the Netherlands to debut the first phase of Bike Bureau as it is the “perfect place to pilot this project”, said the co-creators.
“It contains all the kit we need for newsgathering, interviews, and to provide TV and radio lives connecting via our phones and transmitting around the world,” said Holligan, who is also the creator of a series called “Dutch News from the Cycle Path”, and has already racked up 10,000km on her bike while working, since switching from car to bike two years ago.
Vandy, who has produced television documentaries like “Climate Change on Trial” and “Europe's Cycling Revolution”, said that they hope Bike Bureau will “help the BBC achieve its goal to become the greenest broadcaster in the world”.
🚨 BBC unveils Bike Bureau for green broadcasting 👀
Take a look at the experiment @kate_vandy and @annaholligan have been working on: a mobile broadcast studio and office on two wheels ✌️ 🚴 💚
https://t.co/NfiHZnDWDt— Bike Bureau (@BikeBureau) May 8, 2023
BBC said that "The Bike Bureau is an electric cargo bike, kitted out to offer solo-operated and solar-powered TV and radio lives. It's also used for newsgathering tasks." The co-creators added that through this project, they will “focus on solutions and track down positive stories and tech developments that could transform out lives”.
The move has been applauded by people on social media, with many finding it "inspirational" and calling it a great "innovation", while a cycling campaign group pointed out: "Another job that often uses vans that can now be converted to cycles."
However, some also pointed out the choice of location for the project being Netherlands as "no surprise", since "the state of cycling infrastructure in the UK is so woeful".
BBC, as road.cc readers would know by now, has a controversial relationship with portraying cyclists and cycling infrastructure such as low-traffic neighbourhoods in media…
> BBC somehow turns David Byrne's Met Gala cycle into tedious helmet talk
Bike Bureau is what BBC journos do when outside the UK.
In the UK, BBC journos prefer instead to sweep up anti-cycling hatred. https://t.co/kka0AOilCB— 🚲 Will - @WilliamNB [at] toot.bike🇿🇦🇬🇧 (@WilliamNB) May 8, 2023
Recently, the organisation came under fire from cyclists and climate advocates for its April’s Panorama episode titled “Road Wars: Neighbourhood Traffic Chaos” for featuring conspiracy theorists and right-wing lobby groups, pitting them against experts and academics in the name of providing balance and remaining impartial.
In November, Panorama broadcast “Road Rage: Cars v Bikes”, a curious title for a TV programme that if anything showed just how vulnerable people riding bikes are with motorists who overtake them too closely; or failed to see them altogether, as in one case highlighted in the episode that we reported on at the time.
> More experts, fewer conspiracy theorists on active travel TV shows please
And last year, another Panoramas investigation of “Britain’s Killer Roads” was also criticised for questioning if a reduction in police numbers, breath tests and speed cameras were to blame for the rising death rates on the UK roads, rather than holding those behind the wheel responsible.
We will wait to see if Bike Bureau’s phase two would consider plans to extend their project on Britain’s roads soon…