Why I Love The BBC
The BBC have come in for criticism from James Murdoch of News Corporation, who said:
…a “dominant” BBC threatens independent journalism in the UK. [...]
“The expansion of state-sponsored journalism is a threat to the plurality and independence of news provision,” he told the Edinburgh Television Festival. The scope of the BBC’s activities and ambitions was “chilling”, he added. Organisations like the BBC, funded by the licence fee, as well as Channel 4 and Ofcom, made it harder for other broadcasters to survive, he argued.
And this sums up precisely why we shouldn’t listen to James Murdoch. Let’s look at the scenario: he is publicly critical of the BBC, and the BBC report it. Not only that, but when the BBC report it, they give more space to reporting James Murdoch’s anti-BBC views than they give to the BBC’s Greg Dyke giving an alternative viewpoint. Compare this to News Corporation. I can’t think of an example (I’m not saying there isn’t one, merely that I can’t think of one) where News Corporation has given such prominence to criticism of companies it owns within these companies.
Indeed, it’s so famous for promoting the Sky TV channels through its newspapers that Private Eye used to (possibly still do?) feature obviously promotional mentions of Sky TV within these other channels.
Nor does James Murdoch seem to see that, while he is critical for the BBC’s perceived dominance on TV and on the web, that News Corporation could be reasonably well considered to be dominant in on TV and in print media. I didn’t see James calling for News Corporation to dispose of all of their shareholdings in print media.
Of course, the main problem with the BBC as far as News Corporation is concerned is simple:
Mr Murdoch said free news on the web provided by the BBC made it “incredibly difficult” for private news organisations to ask people to pay for their news.BBC News: Murdoch attack on ‘dominant’ BBC
…and obviously as News Corporation want to charge people for looking at their news on the web, they are going to have a hard time selling this if you can get high quality news content online for free elsewhere.
For me, the worst part though was James Murdoch’s suggestion that the only way you get a truly independent media is through media driven by profit. I disagree. I think a profit-driven media gives you profit-driven news, which isn’t necessarily the same as public interest news. If you are driven by profit, there is an incentive to run puff-pieces (or spike critical stories) of major shareholders or sponsors. You also will run the sort of news — the celebrity gossip stuff — which attracts the most interest, which while it may be want the public wants, isn’t the same as the news the public ought to know.
And the public gets what the public wants
But I want nothing this society’s got…The Jam: Going Underground
Because of the unique way the BBC is funded by the taxpayer, the BBC is able to some extent to focus their news on what is important rather than simply what would be the most populist news. I’m not going to claim the BBC is perfect in this regard — the BBC’s coverage of events outside London is pathetic (it’s national news if there are floods in the south-east, anywhere else it will only make the local news), but let’s look at the way it works.
The BBC is paid by the taxpayer. The BBC therefore has an ethos where they are responsible to the nation, not the shareholder, and certainly not the owner or the government of the day. They see themselves as answering to the nation. Of course, like any organisation, they also have a degree of loyalty to the organisation itself, but you’re not going to get a situation where the BBC’s political reportage is slanted in favour of one particular party because the director general wants to see them elected.
The BBC does not have any axe to grind in this manner. They can — and will — tear down anyone from any political party if they have the relevant information about them.
[As an aside, I note that many people -- particularly those from a right-wing background -- see the BBC as tending towards left-wing. I don't necessarily agree (I fail to see how any organisation that pays and promotes Jeremy Clarkson can be seen as right-on liberals), but I do acknowledge that some people do believe this. Perhaps an external independent body (independent of parliament also) ought to run alongside the BBC to monitor for bias -- OffBeeb perhaps...]
…but for me the key points are trustworthiness and quality. I trust the BBC. I presume they will get it wrong from time to time, but I trust that their intention is to lay out the facts in a plain and clear manner, and not present things with a bias that suits their own political agenda. Compare this to Fox News which has been accused of bias. I don’t want to hear the news that News Corporation wants me to hear.
I want to hear the news that News Corporation doesn’t want me to hear. I want to hear the news that the BBC doesn’t want me to hear. And the only news source I would trust to tell me both of these is the BBC. Over the Ross/Brand/Sachs furore, over allegations of phone-in competitions being mis-run, you get to hear a lot of people being critical of the BBC on the BBC.
And, having watched Sky News quite a bit whilst on holiday, I have to say that it is also my personal belief that the quality of the BBC news is better, but as they are presenting slightly different news styles, this might simply boil down to a matter of personal preference.
For me, the BBC, and in particular BBC news is a well-respected national institution. The British public were up in arms when the US right were critical of our NHS recently to promote an American-right political agenda, and I feel exactly the same about the BBC. Any political party who dares to fuck with the independence, the quality, the institution of the BBC, is fucking with a national institution that is extremely highly valued by the British public. Leave our NHS alone, leave our BBC alone, and take your profit-driven news idea somewhere else.
If the BBC licence fee could be trebled and everything currently within the Murdoch stable within the UK could be brought under the BBC umbrella in the UK, then this would be a good thing, and a price well worth paying. The BBC are rightly and generally seen as the most trusted news provider in the UK, and while I would rather they employed a few more cameramen and standard reporters than paid celebrities huge salaries, I trust them to get the balance right (after all, I’m quite a fan of that Jonathan Ross chap, after all). And it’s not just news; the quality of the BBC programming is generally very high (and they allow for experimental stuff on BBC3/4 which might not be so good, but if it does work will generally be transferred to the more mainstream channels later).
Oh, and that’s before I’ve even mentioned Doctor Who, the quality of local radio, the fact that their website is bloody brilliant (whether you want sports, news, programme information), or even Doctor Who. And did I mention Doctor Who?
In short, the BBC is brilliant and I love it. It’s not perfect, but it is far, far, far better than any of the alternatives.
And, as I intimated a few days ago on twitter, if you’re upsetting the Murdoch empire, then in my book you’ve got to be doing something right…
More reasons to like the #BBC no 17: the Murdoch empire isn’t keen on them.@ThePickards
The Goldfish says:
August 31st, 2009 at 11:50 am
I love the BBC. I liked what Mitch Benn said around the time of the Ross/ Brand scandal about how the BBC is basically a bus, but the bus belongs to everyone and individuals can’t get on it and expect to be taken only to the places they want to go (he put it better than that, I’d have to trawl through my Now Show podcasts…).
In fact, I’m in a bit of a quandary these days – after many years of not having telly and not paying the license fee, the content available on iPlayer is so excellent that I’m beginning to feel morally obliged to pay up. Unfortunately, it’s not the easiest thing to part with money you don’t absolutely need to part with and you don’t really have spare.
scrumph (Sebastian Crump) says:
August 31st, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Reading and blog-jacking in the comments (again, sorry Jack) great post by @thepickards on BBC http://tinyurl.com/lhsegr
Seb Crump says:
August 31st, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Disclaimer – mainly as this will probably become a political hot potato in the run up to next year’s election and I don’t want these personal views being seen by anyone as allied to my civil service position. Capice?
I like the BBC too.
OK, that wasn’t so politically controversial was it…
I guess what I really mean is that while the BBC may not be perfect, it’s doing a pretty good job and I don’t want it to become a political football (again) and lobbyists from the other broadcasters should certainly not throw stones – in fact they should keep out of it, definitely when they have other interests and concerns (such as charging for news content) they’re currently struggling with. More on that later.
I agree with much of what you say, Jack. Especially the nation vs shareholder accountability. The word you missed (avoided deliberately?) was neutrality. Private concerns will always struggle to do well with that, as your examples illustrate.
What gave me the fear was certain UK politicos following the speech stating it was in tune with their thinking.
Veering away from the political stuff I’ll state that the vast majority of TV watching (the exceptions are a few US imports on other stations), radio listening (exclusively on that channel in fact), and news reading (website) I do is from the BBC. Perhaps it suits me as a middle-class southerner particularly well, but there is plenty of output from the BBC that I don’t like for others with different tastes.
Discussing the whole charging for news with colleagues and friends it certainly is a difficulty for independent news sources. However, if I had to accept charging for news content online which would be the service I would willingly pay for? The BBC is the answer… oh hang on I pay a license fee, I guess I already am paying for it!
Leave the BBC alone!
Léonie Watson says:
August 31st, 2009 at 4:07 pm
When I was small I watched The Flumps, when I was at school I watched Blue Peter, when I was a teenager I watched Top of the Pops, when I was at uni I listened to Radio 1, when I lost my sight I found In Touch on Radio 4, when I work late now I watch things I’ve missed on the Iplayer…
Long live the BBC!
Matt says:
September 9th, 2009 at 12:21 am
18 months without paying the TV Tax and proud
JackP says:
September 9th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Somebody arrest that man! The rest of us are paying higher taxes to support the likes of that scum!
Gary Miller says:
September 12th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
I’ve managed to avoid paying the TV licence for almost 19 months now. Mind you, I had to get rid of the telly ‘cos the reception where I live is – basically – crap.
As for digital radio/tv? Forget it!!
(BTW: Sorry you’re last comment was held up Jack. Back from Hospital now and it’s been released!)
Mike Doyle says:
August 27th, 2010 at 8:51 am
Absolute tosh. The BBC has a political and social agenda. They are responsible for turning the United Kingdom into a social quagmire crippled by political correctness, self-doubt and self-loathing. Just listen to the patronising tone of any of their news presenters and their standards diction and accent.
If you can’t see that the BBC is Big Brother then go back and read 1984…… They are omnipresent doom parasites….
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