The BBC is far from perfect, but it is too important to lose
James Childs writes about his thoughts on the BBC’s journalistic integrity and maintains continued support for the institution.
Image Credit: Flickr
This week, politicians and the media have reverted to one of their favourite pastimes, attacking the BBC. A great British institution, having existed for more than a century, is now under attack by those posing to have concerns over impartiality and journalistic integrity, but in truth would happily see the destruction of the corporation in pursuit of a personal agenda.
Those attacking the BBC this week are no friends of both the corporation or defenders of the truth. Rather, they are hostile actors who fear an independent and free public service broadcaster.
The scandal this week involving a Panorama documentary which misleadingly spliced together two different parts of President Trump’s speech on January 6th 2021 was shocking and warranted the utmost scrutiny of the broadcaster. In a world of misinformation, the BBC exists to uphold the highest standards of journalism, and on this occasion, failed to do so.
However, this mistake must be placed into context and has been blown out of all reasonable proportions. In a corporation which employs over 21,000 people and produces hundreds of thousands of hours of content a year, errors are inevitable. When they occur, they should be dealt with swiftly, yet on this occasion, those who have an agenda against the BBC have spotted this as an opportunity to undermine the broadcaster.
The BBC must take a large portion of the blame for this scandal reaching the heights which it has. The failure to swiftly respond to The Telegraph’s publishing of the leaked internal memo, showing the mistake in the Panorama editing, contributed to the frenzy which ensued. The resignation of Tim Davie (the Director General) and Deborah Turness (CEO of BBC News) allowed many of the BBC’s opponents to claim victory for what should have been a simple apology and withdrawal of the documentary.
Naturally, those already with an axe to grind in relation to the BBC have wasted no time whatsoever in transforming this as a means for their own campaign against the BBC.
Is the BBC perfect? Absolutely not, but it is far too important to lose. I rarely see people, not least the BBC itself, set out its stall. The BBC should go further in promoting all the great work it does, from television to radio, news to sport. There is something on the BBC for everyone and that should be truly cherished and protected.
Despite the objectives of the BBC, as set out by the first ever Director General Lord Reith, being to inform, educate and entertain. It has now instead become a conversation around the BBC that has been dominated purely around its news output.
The BBC provides four television channels, six main radio stations, over 20 local radio stations, a news website, a sport website, and the iPlayer with thousands of hours of content and BBC sounds.
Not least to mention the World Service, an incredible output of the world’s single largest external broadcaster, transmitting to 200 countries, in 42 languages, reaching 318 million people a week. The soft power that the United Kingdom receives from the World Service is invaluable, and it should continue to have its funding protected by the Foreign Office for the foreseeable future.
The idea that we should replace the license fee with a subscription model is simply unworkable and would destroy everything the BBC is meant to be. It would cease to be a public service as it would be forced to chase commercial revenue, leading to less commercially viable output to be scrapped.
What’s more is, despite what the Daily Mail would have you believe, the BBC is incredibly popular. On Christmas Day last year, the BBC took all 10 spots on the most watched shows live on the day, far outstripping its commercial rivals.
The BBC’s news output still remains one of the most trusted across the world, it is the most trusted in the UK and the second most trusted in the United States, second only to the Weather Channel.
The attacks on the corporation from politicians at home and abroad has been a disgrace. A mistake has been made, and leaders have been held to account, that should be the end of it. The idea that a foreign leader is able to hold a British public service to ransom is preposterous.
The Government should take a stronger stance to defend the BBC domestically and abroad showing it is here to stay, whether they like it or not.
Words by James Childs