Kmflett's Blog

The BBC and Public Service Broadcasting. A qualified defence from the left

I don’t listen to BBC news on the radio or watch it on TV (I do look at the news website). I’m on the left and I find much of the news reported is slanted towards the right. I never listen to the Today programme or watch Question Time, frankly there are better places to find news and views.

Thinking back over the last year there are some things the BBC has got badly wrong- the coverage of the death of Prince Philip for example- which did indeed make it seem like the State Broadcaster that current Culture Minister Nadine Dorries thinks it is, or perhaps should be.

However the BBC’s broadcast output is vast and programmes like the Archers which has run for over 70 years and Test Match Special covering every ball of cricket Tests are just not things that are easily replicated outside of a public service broadcasting model.

Part of the problem I have with BBC News (and indeed much of the 24 hour news culture) is that somewhere along the line it has become acceptable and commonly practiced by at least some journalists to add their personal views to a news report. They of course can have their own views but they are also meant to be professionals who keep such views for other times. To be fair most are and do, but it is the minority that don’t that capture the attention.

Secondly and more complex is the question of whether the BBC is biased towards the Tories. It is in my view a matter of institutional bias. There is an assumption towards the Government of the day, and against change, until change happens.

This attitude has deep historical roots in British culture and can be found in many areas where change is discussed. If there is no clear agreement on change then whoever is presiding will rule in favour of keeping the status quo.

Yet behind all this lies the hard work of thousands of professional BBC employees out there reporting and producing news on a wide range of matters that the print media no longer often does.

As a trade unionist I do think the BBC should listen to its trade unions more, perhaps particularly on the points that compared to the population it serves it often appears too male and white. That’s reflected quite basically in its continuing equal pay issues.

Nadine Dorries has complained that the BBC is not like the nation it serves too. She might usefully look at the Tory Cabinet in that respect. She has also said that the licence fee system wont go beyond 2027. Er, well, she wont be Culture Secretary then and its simply a statement of the reality that the current Charter ends then.

That said the world of broadcasting is vastly different to when the licence fee system was introduced. Perhaps there is a better way of funding the work the BBC does, invaluable or maddening in turn as it may be. However Churchill’s view on Parliamentary democracy might be relevant- the worse way of doing things, except for all the others.