The BBC Has Appeased Its Enemies and Alienated Its Friends
The idea of public-service broadcasting is still worth defending in a media culture increasingly dominated by the superwealthy. Unfortunately, the BBC has failed to defend that idea while bending over backward to appease those who want to destroy it.
The BBC has acquiesced in the face of British political power with grim predictability. Many former allies of the public broadcaster now feel overt anger toward it rather than a sense of responsibility to speak up for its protection. (Carl Court / Getty Images)
It’s getting harder and harder to defend the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Quite aside from the seemingly endless disclosures that management failed to act on sexual abuse allegations against some of its most high-profile presenters, the organization’s news output has long made things difficult for those who might otherwise champion it.
From the unforgivable equivocation around Israel’s genocide and the generally uncritical promotion of a NATO-aligned worldview to the nauseating obsession with the factionalism and court intrigues of Westminster, the BBC has acquiesced in the face of British political power with grim predictability. Many former allies of the public broadcaster now feel overt anger towards it rather than a sense of responsibility to speak up for its protection.
Swinging the Axe
On June 17, the BBC’s new director-general, Matt Brittin — a businessman, former McKinsey consultant, and Google executive — announced a fresh round of cuts. Few dissenting voices made themselves heard above the vaguely maudlin tone of reporting as another slice of Britain’s erstwhile national treasure was chewed up and spat out.
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