auntie knows best
Following directly on from the previous post, a key component of a democratic society is a free press and an unbiased media, and consequently within this country I genuinely believe we have every right to be justifiably proud of our very own, BBC.
Notwithstanding the current furore over how exactly the corporation secured the infamous Princess Diana interview, which absolutely needs to thoroughly investigated and potentially held to account, the venerable institution is the whole British nation in all our untidy variety and grubby detail. At the last count, 99% of households used at least one of its services at least once a week, 19 out of the 25 most-watched programmes through the last decade were broadcast by the Beeb and, crucially, it remains by far the single most trusted source of impartial news. Mind, I shall forever hold presenter Naga Munchetty in the highest regard for publically calling-out President Trump on-air as a racist when he tweeted that four US politicians of colour should “go home”.
Its scope, size and sheer quantity and range of output means it’s a soft-target for criticism, a veritable punch-bag of unlimited opportunity. Every viewer and listener understandably has an opinion and a criticism: it’s too adventurous/too stale, too futuristic/too backward looking, too commercial/too parochial, guilty of virtue-signalling/remains silent in the face of blatant lies, overpays its star presenters and fritters away its funding/represents great value for money (the licence fee has increased just £12 since 2010), is way too left-leaning/unacceptably right-wing biased, and so on. The irony is they’re all right. Comedy, drama and arts will always skew to the left. Political coverage has consistently favoured the government of the day whatever its colour and, spooked by accusations of metropolitan elitism, it continues to overcompensate to the right on Question Time and Politics Live. Whoops, there’s my criticism out in the open but I fully concede that all accusations of bias and criticism of its operation probably balance out in the wash.
In the light of intense streaming competition, funding cuts, pressure on the licence fee and, according to Andrew Marr ‘the most hostile prime minister it has ever faced’, its current predicament appears somewhat grave. However, if you wish to witness a news broadcasting system that conforms to a free-market blueprint, look across the Atlantic, where the barely regulated environment has cultivated extreme partisanship, distrust and misinformation to such an extent that it has eroded the shared and accepted reality upon which a healthy democracy depends. We indeed have much to lose with the potential demise or diminution of the British Broadcasting Corporation, even if it’s only an advert-free safe haven when channel-surfing between Wheeler Dealers and Salvage Hunters.
