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| The BBC's future: what the national newspapers, predictably, say | The BBC's future: what the national newspapers, predictably, say |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| The press battalion opposed to the BBC cannot conceal its delight following the unveiling of the government’s green paper on the future of the corporation. | The press battalion opposed to the BBC cannot conceal its delight following the unveiling of the government’s green paper on the future of the corporation. |
| It is no surprise that papers owned by Rupert Murdoch, controller of a rival TV broadcaster, lead the way. | It is no surprise that papers owned by Rupert Murdoch, controller of a rival TV broadcaster, lead the way. |
| The Times knows what should be achieved by the review of the BBC’s charter: | The Times knows what should be achieved by the review of the BBC’s charter: |
| “For its own sake and the country’s, the BBC should emerge slimmer, more efficient and more accountable to those who pay its bills. | “For its own sake and the country’s, the BBC should emerge slimmer, more efficient and more accountable to those who pay its bills. |
| The national broadcaster... has grown wasteful in its use of public money. It has spent too much on an overpromoted cadre of managers... it has extended its own remit into online news at real risk to healthy competition”. | The national broadcaster... has grown wasteful in its use of public money. It has spent too much on an overpromoted cadre of managers... it has extended its own remit into online news at real risk to healthy competition”. |
| It says culture secretary John Whittingdale “must not be satisfied with lazy assertions of the BBC’s treasured place in public life, nor distracted by the excessive lobbying it has organised in recent days with the help of rich celebrities on its payroll”. | It says culture secretary John Whittingdale “must not be satisfied with lazy assertions of the BBC’s treasured place in public life, nor distracted by the excessive lobbying it has organised in recent days with the help of rich celebrities on its payroll”. |
| Instead, he should cut the BBC back. “In a multichannel universe in which the internet increasingly competes with television, the BBC should be ready to identify what it does best and can do better. | Instead, he should cut the BBC back. “In a multichannel universe in which the internet increasingly competes with television, the BBC should be ready to identify what it does best and can do better. |
| “At the same time it must rein in what George Osborne has called its ‘imperial’ online ambitions. The corporation is a broadcaster, not a publisher. It cannot expect a renewed charter to endorse a status quo that lets it trample on private-sector rivals with public funds”. | “At the same time it must rein in what George Osborne has called its ‘imperial’ online ambitions. The corporation is a broadcaster, not a publisher. It cannot expect a renewed charter to endorse a status quo that lets it trample on private-sector rivals with public funds”. |
| The Times thinks the fact that 97% of Britons access BBC services for an average of 18 hours a week is not “a vote of public confidence” but an “overwhelming, and therefore troubling, market dominance”. It concludes: | The Times thinks the fact that 97% of Britons access BBC services for an average of 18 hours a week is not “a vote of public confidence” but an “overwhelming, and therefore troubling, market dominance”. It concludes: |
| “The scrutiny will be forensic and the BBC should embrace it. The alternative of unchecked waste and unjustified expansion serves no one”. | “The scrutiny will be forensic and the BBC should embrace it. The alternative of unchecked waste and unjustified expansion serves no one”. |
| Murdoch’s red-top voice chooses to pour scorn on Labour’s shadow culture secretary, Chris Bryant, for his defence of the BBC, calling him “reliably idiotic”. | Murdoch’s red-top voice chooses to pour scorn on Labour’s shadow culture secretary, Chris Bryant, for his defence of the BBC, calling him “reliably idiotic”. |
| The BBC “was, and occasionally is, an admirable broadcaster”, says the Sun. But is “needs an overhaul, funding included, in a media landscape changed beyond recognition” (changed in part, of course, by Murdoch himself). | The BBC “was, and occasionally is, an admirable broadcaster”, says the Sun. But is “needs an overhaul, funding included, in a media landscape changed beyond recognition” (changed in part, of course, by Murdoch himself). |
| The Daily Telegraph, ideologically opposed to the growth of public service broadcasting, also greets the review: | The Daily Telegraph, ideologically opposed to the growth of public service broadcasting, also greets the review: |
| “If the corporation is to continue to enjoy its state-sanctioned monopoly, it has to explain what makes it unique and deliver value for money. | “If the corporation is to continue to enjoy its state-sanctioned monopoly, it has to explain what makes it unique and deliver value for money. |
| The BBC’s original Reithian values called for it to be impartial, have a strong moral purpose, to speak to the nation and to educate as well as entertain. Much of today’s programming still reflects these ideals”. Many lives are enriched by, say, Radio 4 or the World Service”. | The BBC’s original Reithian values called for it to be impartial, have a strong moral purpose, to speak to the nation and to educate as well as entertain. Much of today’s programming still reflects these ideals”. Many lives are enriched by, say, Radio 4 or the World Service”. |
| And then comes the “but”. | And then comes the “but”. |
| “But some of the contemporary output fails to be distinctive and could easily be produced by a commercial organisation without a charge to the viewer – a charge enforced by criminal sanctions”. | “But some of the contemporary output fails to be distinctive and could easily be produced by a commercial organisation without a charge to the viewer – a charge enforced by criminal sanctions”. |
| The Telegraph, noting that “both Labour and the BBC are already crying foul” says: | The Telegraph, noting that “both Labour and the BBC are already crying foul” says: |
| “This review is not part of some diabolical Tory plot; instead it is an attempt to save a venerable institution from itself – an institution that has been beset by scandals born of arrogance and self-indulgence”. | “This review is not part of some diabolical Tory plot; instead it is an attempt to save a venerable institution from itself – an institution that has been beset by scandals born of arrogance and self-indulgence”. |
| The Daily Mail is consumed by its revelation that a letter to the prime minister signed by BBC “stars”, in which they supported the corporation, was orchestrated (allegedly) by Danny Cohen, the BBC’s director of television. | |
| Its leading article accuses the BBC of “a crude attempt... to twist and manipulate the national debate” with the letter “signed by 29 gilded celebrities employed by the BBC”. | Its leading article accuses the BBC of “a crude attempt... to twist and manipulate the national debate” with the letter “signed by 29 gilded celebrities employed by the BBC”. |
| “Even if they had generated the letter themselves, these celebrities – Clare Balding, Stephen Fry and the rest – receive tens of millions of pounds a year between them from the taxpayer. | “Even if they had generated the letter themselves, these celebrities – Clare Balding, Stephen Fry and the rest – receive tens of millions of pounds a year between them from the taxpayer. |
| Are they really qualified to lecture us on whether the BBC is spending too much? From the melodramatic tone of the missive – ‘a diminished BBC would simply mean a diminished Britain’ – anyone would think the Corporation was about to be abolished”. | Are they really qualified to lecture us on whether the BBC is spending too much? From the melodramatic tone of the missive – ‘a diminished BBC would simply mean a diminished Britain’ – anyone would think the Corporation was about to be abolished”. |
| But the Mail greets the “consultation” in order to decide whether the BBC “has grown too big and if a universal licence fee is still a fair charge in this multi-platform age”. | But the Mail greets the “consultation” in order to decide whether the BBC “has grown too big and if a universal licence fee is still a fair charge in this multi-platform age”. |
| It tells readers that the BBC’s “massive website and proliferation of channels and local radio stations are crushing plurality and stifling debate”, which amounts to a “relentless expansion at taxpayers’ expense” and must therefore be curbed. | |
| It concludes: “One thing is already crystal clear. At the top of this depressingly arrogant organisation, no one is serious about embracing the radical reform and modernisation it so desperately needs”. | It concludes: “One thing is already crystal clear. At the top of this depressingly arrogant organisation, no one is serious about embracing the radical reform and modernisation it so desperately needs”. |
| So where can the BBC look for support? To the Guardian and the Daily Mirror, of course. | So where can the BBC look for support? To the Guardian and the Daily Mirror, of course. |
| The Mirror calls for “a campaign to save the BBC” because “the culture and politics of Britain would be much poorer” without it, and “we won’t fully appreciate what we have until it’s gone”. | The Mirror calls for “a campaign to save the BBC” because “the culture and politics of Britain would be much poorer” without it, and “we won’t fully appreciate what we have until it’s gone”. |
| It says “the Conservatives must stop playing ideological games... The BBC isn’t above criticism but we must all speak out now or it might be too late to save Britain’s Best Corporation”. | It says “the Conservatives must stop playing ideological games... The BBC isn’t above criticism but we must all speak out now or it might be too late to save Britain’s Best Corporation”. |
| The Guardian recognises that the green paper presents “a more profound challenge” to the BBC than it has ever faced before: | The Guardian recognises that the green paper presents “a more profound challenge” to the BBC than it has ever faced before: |
| “Its Reithian ideal , to be guide, philosopher and friend to its audience, not impervious to the market but with responsibilities beyond it, unavoidably sets it at odds with commercial rivals . Yet the challenge now goes well beyond the long-running campaign of business interests like the Murdoch empire’s. The political climate is hostile. The tide of free market politics is running swiftly”. | “Its Reithian ideal , to be guide, philosopher and friend to its audience, not impervious to the market but with responsibilities beyond it, unavoidably sets it at odds with commercial rivals . Yet the challenge now goes well beyond the long-running campaign of business interests like the Murdoch empire’s. The political climate is hostile. The tide of free market politics is running swiftly”. |
| It also takes account of the changes wrought by the digital revolution, enabling the transmission of an almost limitless amount of content. | It also takes account of the changes wrought by the digital revolution, enabling the transmission of an almost limitless amount of content. |
| “The BBC, with its significant online presence, is now seen by a greater number of competitors as a more existential threat – in a political climate that has never been chillier”. | “The BBC, with its significant online presence, is now seen by a greater number of competitors as a more existential threat – in a political climate that has never been chillier”. |
| The Guardian sees that the licence fee as the “point of attack” by the government, which has made its size conditional on the outcome of the review process. | The Guardian sees that the licence fee as the “point of attack” by the government, which has made its size conditional on the outcome of the review process. |
| It recognises that Whittingdale is unlikely to give up his personal commitment to an alternative to the TV licence and also raises its eybrows at the fact that most of the expert advisers chosen by the culture secretary “have a close connection with the BBC’s critics in TV and newspapers”. | |
| Overall, the Guardian thinks “the real target is the BBC’s market impact” and, “in particular” this is about the corporation’s digital reach. It “makes it more difficult for its commercial competition to make money in digital (particularly because it challenges services behind a paywall or with metered access, such as the Times and the Daily Telegraph)”. | Overall, the Guardian thinks “the real target is the BBC’s market impact” and, “in particular” this is about the corporation’s digital reach. It “makes it more difficult for its commercial competition to make money in digital (particularly because it challenges services behind a paywall or with metered access, such as the Times and the Daily Telegraph)”. |
| The Guardian argues that “these are not negligible considerations” and accepts that the BBC “is not perfect”. But, it says: “Set against its role as a thread in the warp and woof of national life, its flaws seem insignificant... There could be a different BBC. But it would refl ect a different Britain”. |