Comment on BBC to force more to pay licence fee with ‘YouTube tax’
Denjin@feddit.uk 2 days ago
As a vocal supporter of the BBC (yes even with all it’s many, many flaws) and am in favour in principal of the license fee, I don’t think this is an appropriate way to fill the black hole in their finances.
It should in fact just become part of general taxation as that’s the only way to make it fair. Even if you don’t consume their content, it provides a national service, it projects soft power abroad, it’s a primary news source for more than half a billion people and if that’s worth anything (in my view it is) then it should come out of the central budget.
Personally I actually think this is more reasonable. If you’re going to go as far as to charge everyone for it, you might as well do it means-based and have to compete with other funding.
The only problem with this is it potentially gives less independence from the government, which means that they will become even less critical of their agenda, and may lose more credibility.
The top two layers are literally stacked with Tories, it’s already biased as hell (I’ve posted peer reviewed papers on here previously that’s fact not opinion).
Changing the funding model doesn’t affect that.
Changes to remove overt bias can be done regardless of funding.
And further to that I note an article in today’s Guardian referencing a Reuters article (I’ll dig that out and update with it if I can find it)
theguardian.com/…/uk-outlier-europe-farage-politi…
“However, an international study has confirmed that the UK’s decision to allow politicians to present such shows is highly unusual across Europe. In 35 of the 37 European nations studied, regulators found no recent examples of serving politicians presenting news or current affairs programmes”
“The study, by an academic from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism for the Demos thinktank, will be used as evidence by critics who believe that Ofcom, Britain’s media regulator, has failed to protect impartiality by allowing the politician-led shows.”
TRAHR@quokk.au 2 days ago
As a vocal critic of the BBC, it should be defunded. It projects transphobic and zionist propaganda internationally, through heavily biased and manipulative reporting.
crapwittyname@feddit.uk 2 days ago
That’s mostly BBC news to be fair. Wouldn’t a change in management be just as effective at tackling those problems? Genuine question. The BBC used to be a left wing bastion.
TRAHR@quokk.au 2 days ago
Zionism yes, the trans and queerphobia is across it all. They’re cancelling lots of LGBT content, censoring t-shirts, doing JK Rowling documentaries, etc.
ohulancutash@feddit.uk 1 day ago
The production company that owns Drag Race decided they wanted to vastly increase the tariff in the next contract despite the BBC having to find half a billion in savings. The show now moves to that production company’s own streaming service. This is the story often when the BBC commissions a hit show from an indie - look at Bake-off as an example.
Fact is, they’re cancelling a lot of content across the board, including relatively inexpensive things like You and Yours. Even the Archers is having severe budget cuts.
ohulancutash@feddit.uk 2 days ago
Did it? MI5 even had an office at Broadcasting House
cornishon@lemmygrad.ml 1 day ago
Don’t forget their Yellow Middle East (or Latin America) Filter, or Gray Communism Filter they always make sure to use when reporting on the rest of the world outside the European Garden.