BBC's license fee - "Get one or get done!"

Michael Morris

I must admit that I felt a great sense of satisfaction the other night after having watched Panorama’s self inquisition, on the role of the BBC, and its license fee. The glow around me has not yet worn off.

As the program aired, I was all ready to make an official complaint (my bias meter is a highly tuned weapon), on the grounds that it was laughable having the BBC scrutinize itself by a panel, which with few exceptions, had all either worked for or had been governors of the Beeb, at sometime or another. So, they rolled out all the old comfy sofa favourites including everyone’s fantasy granddad, David Attenborough. Very sneaky. However, I did enjoy the show tremendously – excellent entertainment late on a Sunday night with a cup of hot cocoa.

After listening to the BBC’s acting Director General, Mark Byford, over the course of a very long hour, I realized that those of us who want the license fee scrapped have already won. Celebrate comrades! Soon, you will be £120 richer each year. David Elstein is a god. Single handedly, as the BBC unfairly loaded the panel, (what’s new?) our hero battered and kicked Mark Byford’s license fee defense to kingdom come. David obviously does not understand the meaning of the word “mercy”. He smashed away Mark’s muffled argument with the same violence and brutality the incredible Hulk would mete out to an ant. Winning doesn’t get any better than this. Though, of course, it’s wrong to paint that beating as a physical one. David Elstein was intellectually incisive, quick on his feet, and had a killer answer for each verbal blow Mr. Byford attempted to land on him. After a while, the BBC’s acting DG just kept articulating the same point over and over again - in a rather unconvincing manner - that the BBC is special because it caters to everyone’s tastes and views. I did feel badly for him at one point – but sorry Mark – the gloating must continue.

I just don’t understand what they are so afraid of. The BBC does produce and deliver some excellent content and is more than a match for most of the commercial networks. Last Sunday’s Panorama episode, and the one in February, before Gavin & Greg (remember them?) went off to play lots of golf - were the best BBC programs I have ever watched. I would gladly pay for that type of nihilistic BBC quality programming on a subscription deal.

Unfortunately, a particularly sensitive topic – at least to me - was not brought up for discussion on the program last Sunday night. It applies specifically to BBC news output and not the rest of the corporation – so perhaps it was not the correct forum for that discussion after all. A large number of people all across this country genuinely feel that BBC news output is biased on a number of fronts. These include issues such as the Iraq war, the portrayal of America and GW Bush and, of course, the troubles in the Middle East. These concerns are well documented and the case studies can be found in very large quantities on the internet at various blog sites. We are not talking about wild accusations and conspiracy theories; case study after case study shows clear evidence of a left-wing bias, which permeates much of the BBC online, radio and television news output. There is no suggestion that this unrepresentative agenda is being driven by BBC employees using secret handshakes and meeting at safe houses in the middle of the night. A much simpler explanation could be that a predominantly left wing journalistic corps, combined with a tangible softening of what constitutes “journalistic expression” - evolves naturally into a biased component. This phenomenon is not exclusive to the BBC, as many other reputable news broadcasters are also overshooting the boundaries of impartiality. The difference though – and this takes us back to Mark Byford’s license fee justification – is that the whole country is not forced to pay for all these other broadcasters and news publishers. If we don’t agree with their editorial line - we can just unsubscribe. Making everyone pay for the BBC’s political agenda is not only unethical, but totally undemocratic and also flies in the face of Mark Byford’s “balance of views” argument.

It is this core issue about the BBC’s political impartiality that I believe is the most intrinsic qualifier in regards to the license fee. The other day from the top of a bus, I noticed a large TV Licensing billboard; its message was pretty straightforward: “Get one or get done”. Imagine seeing something like that in Putin’s Russia.


Michael Morris
m.dm@btopenworld.com