BBC journalist Cliff Merry has called on the new culture minister under Liz Truss to “make a renewed commitment to the quality of public broadcasting service, at the BBC and Channel 4”.
Truss was appointed prime minister earlier today, replacing Boris Johnson. It is expected to appoint a new government, including a new Minister of State for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Information, who will replace the current minister, Nadine Doris.
While delivering the Steve Hewlett memorial lecture to the Royal Television Society at the University of Westminster on Monday evening, Merry also defended the BBC’s commitment to impartiality, in comments that could be interpreted as a refutation of former colleague Emily Mitlis’ lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival two weeks ago.
“[Public service broadcasting] Mary said in his speech. He also offered a critique of the subscription-based model that the BBC would likely resort to if its public funding were eliminated, through annual license fees, noting that “the market is now saturated” and that subscriber-based broadcasting platforms were cutting spending as subscriber numbers fell.
“If the subscription model is adopted….but the revenues are not coming in at high enough levels, what about universality, the principle that has helped anchor the BBC at the heart of our nation for a hundred years?” he asked.
He also added that many vital elements of programming, such as news, cannot be sold the way formats are, and will likely be eroded by a private entity. “Can we guarantee the existence of Channel 4 news channel after privatization?” Mary asked. “not necessarily.”
“Many people underestimate the value of the BBC and what it does for this country and the rest of the world,” said Meri, a foreign correspondent who stood out in particular during his coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As a foreign correspondent for many years around the world, I know how much people from other countries appreciate BBC programming. BBC. Now is the right time, in the age of lies, deceit, and unabashed propaganda…Now is the time…the BBC is so much needed.”
Merry also discussed how the BBC has come under attack from all sides, including those who claim it is the government’s propaganda machine (as Mitlis suggested last month) and those who claim it has often “wake up”. Hooray they say [if the BBC were no more]. No more waking news, flimsy software, fake left-wing indoctrination and malicious identity politics. No more blokeys, telling me I can’t sing “Rule Britannia” in “Last Night of the Proms”… No more crazy lunatics checking about that lionesses don’t have black players when they just won the Euro! ‘ said Merry, imitating a BBC One Piece critic.
“And others might say hi, but curious to know the exact corresponding reasons,” he continued. “…No more right-wing propaganda they were chanting. No more submission to reactionary forces, succumbing to government pressure at every turn. It’s the BBC scared as they say…by the powerful…….. …an institution that has lost its temper …and refuses to call the obvious bleeding.It is an unfit broadcaster for a post-truth world of populists and liars…because – the critics believe – only their version of the truth matters, only their voice should be heard…they have a right to Describe them and everyone can see them. Neutrality is a false god.”
Merry went on to say that the BBC’s objectivity is precisely why it continues to be seen as a beacon of trust in the age of fake news, explaining: “The quest for objective truth is in a way old-fashioned, even boring. It’s also messy. Neutrality is an analog concept in the world Digital. Sounds technical, bureaucratic…..looks very BBC! So I will use a different word – fairness. Neutrality is simply what is fair!”
The public wants the BBC to stand up for something, and that certainly has to be fair. An opinion is one side of the argument, and putting one side of the argument is not true, and some might argue that it is not appropriate, or morally acceptable in news and current affairs. I would argue, that’s definitely not fair.”
At the Edinburgh Television Festival two weeks ago, Maitlis, who left the BBC earlier this year, suggested that “both sides” were a “false equivalence” and called the organization’s director of communications an “active agent of the Conservative Party”.
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