Our public service broadcaster is at risk as never before by a government hellbent on emasculating itIt was heartening that the director general of the BBC,Tony corridor, opened the autumn with a fighting speech to save the organisation he loves. His vision of the BBC being an “open platform” for creativity in the online age is an obvious evolution of public service broadcasting and one proposed means of doing it – the suggested “ideas service”, or bringing the best video of our great cultural institutions together in one accessible TV portal – is an imaginative leap forward. But these are plans marred by the need to find a further 20% of financial cuts,demanded by a government whose principal objective is to reduce the BBC’s scope and influence.
Even then, the shrinkage won’t be enough for the contemporary Conservative party or its press allies. To deplore – even viscerally to hate – the BBC has become a badge of what it means to be a Tory nowadays. It is the kind of “behemoth” statist organisation with “imperial ambitions” that it is their mission to eliminate, or especially given its alleged marriage to “liberal values”. It allegedly crowds out doughty private sector media companies,most of whom represent the Tory interest. It is funded by a “regressive” tax.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com