GIVE US THE MONEY - 10 September 2009
The comments made by James Murdoch, the boss of Sky about the BBC are interesting to say the least. He believes the BBC to be an arm of the state - I am sure Tony Blair and Alistair Campbell were not of the same opinion when they held office! Murdoch further says that the BBC is too big, it treats its audience like children and that the expansion of the BBC is resulting in its rivals struggling for survival.
He wants the BBC to charge for its online services.
There is little doubt that the BBC is a vast organisation with a huge income in a privileged position. Unlike its rivals it does not have to struggle for an income. The fact that every household having a TV set is forced by law to pay a fee which directly funds the BBC is in this day and age strange. If TV had just been invented no doubt we would choose a different model. That however is like saying if alcohol had just been invented we would ban it.
The BBC receives money raised from the license fee to provide public service broadcasting; it provides us with much more. Rivals do find it difficult to compete. How can they charge for products when the BBC offers a truly outstanding service noted for its excellence in so many fields for free? The danger is, as Murdoch highlights that with the competition blown out of the water and greater expansion of the BBC, all competition will disappear. That is not healthy for a democracy. (Something about the pot calling the kettle black springs to mind when one considers the Murdoch Empire!)
The BBC will not charge for its online services, why should it when as licence payers we are surely already paying. There is an ethical question of course, should people be made to pay for a service they do not use? Should the licence fee be reduced and the BBC charge for its online services. It is of course not as simple as that. Many of the BBC reports are reused across their networks.
It is clear that something needs to be done to support local media and particularly broadcasters like Vision News South who offer public service broadcasting at its best.
Whilst I strongly feel that financial support should be given to other broadcasters, I am not sure if this should come from a reduction in the license fee, or from other government assistance.
One of the great strengths of the BBC is its ability to try new ventures which quickly become accepted as the norm. However, I notice today, Thursday 10 September, that the Chairman of the BBC Trust, Sir Michael Lyons says in an open letter to viewers that he would rather give some of the license fee back rather than hand to commercial providers.
Well to that Sir Michael I say - give it back to the government and let them re-allocate it to companies such as ours so that we can guarantee competition and the survival of local media as well as provide a local online community service which the BBC fails to do adequately.
