Tom Mills is senior lecturer in sociology at Aston University, chair of the Media Reform Coalition, and the author of The BBC: Myth of a Public Service.
Greg Philo, who died last month, was a giant in the field of critical media studies. Philo and his colleagues exposed the conservative bias of TV news across a whole range of issues, from workers’ strikes to Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians.
The BBC marked its centenary this week, but its long-term future is deeply uncertain. We should defend the idea of public-service broadcasting while sharply criticizing the BBC in its current form for its conservativism and deference to the British state.
Threatened with further cuts to its funding, the BBC has become ever less willing to hold the Tories to account. But while BBC news coverage has done little to enamor it to the Left, we should defend the principle of public broadcasting.
Streams of reports point out the bias at work in BBC’s politics coverage. As it edges ever closer to Britain’s Conservative Party this election campaign, it’s clear the public broadcaster needs radical reform if it is to be saved.
Talking about elites isn’t just the realm of conspiracy theorists. In fact, it’s a vital component of left-wing politics.