The BBC is back in the news after Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer boldly declared on television and the radio yesterday that there was a “perception among audiences” that the corporation was biased. Downing Street last night backed her; Rishi Sunak said the BBC has “more work to do” — though denied that the Government is pursuing an agenda against the BBC. Yet sadly in our nonsensical political culture wars, the BBC has become a punching bag. How eternally depressing.
When Frazer was asked where the evidence of BBC bias was, as she did the media round, she was unable to give a real example of this supposedly deep-rooted bias she is going to eliminate.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying the corporation is perfect, no massive organisation is without fault. But it is unfair and actually dangerous for consecutive culture secretaries to have this axe to grind — so nakedly ideological and political — when it comes to the broadcaster.
The BBC is the real global Britain flag that flies across the world and it gives so many people an insight into our democracy and the things we hold true. I came to know the BBC as a child in two spheres. In Manchester as a child, having fled war to a country that welcomed me, the BBC was where I learned to practise my English and shout out answers to silly, delightful questions from children’s TV.
When the war broke out in Somaliland and we fled the capital Hargeisa, it was the BBC that kept us informed
But in Somaliland, the BBC served a totally different but still fundamental role to my childhood. When the war broke out and we fled the capital Hargeisa, it was the BBC that kept us informed about what was going on. I remember finding a sense of peace and security in the familiar friendly but firm voice that came out of the old radio that my grandmother would pull close to an ever-growing number of people who would come over to listen in too.
Few spoke English and at the time there was not often a Somali speaker on the news. Even when there was they were talked over by those translating. But the name of the BBC and what was being translated gave everyone a sense of hope. The role of the BBC beyond the UK is an incredible one — and so rarely appreciated here. It has the trust and soft power to showcase this country in a way that the late Queen had.
Back to the Culture Secretary, who seems neither to understand or appreciate any of this. Like I said, the BBC has issues but most of the complaints about it being biased are roads to nowhere. These accusations tend to rely on a single issue or event like Gaza or Brexit.
Ironically, both sides on these issues will accuse the BBC of being biased. Right now people are accusing the BBC of being pro-Hamas for not calling Hamas a terrorist organisation. At the same time, there have been mass demonstrations outside the BBC because other people think they are not condemning Israel enough.
And let’s not even start with the Brexit debate, which is where this current Government’s “the BBC is biased” beliefs come from.
The BBC is the epitome of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”, but that is also what being impartial and reporting the news ends up meaning and we should be proud of that.
Public criticism is something the corporation has always faced and overcome because when people put their emotions aside they see that the BBC is the greatest broadcaster in the world. They realise (or should) how lucky we are to have it.
It’s where millions across the world turn for education or when they need the facts without hyperbole. So to see how the Government has treated the BBC over the last few years is disgraceful and undermines an institution that is the fabric of global democracy. All for the sake of aligning with the growing trend of populism which the broadcaster and other independent journalists are trying to protect us from.
Like the NHS, the BBC is key to the success and health of this country because the role it plays to inform is what keeps us all free and able to get on.
So in this election year if the Government thinks attacking the BBC will get the Tory party votes, it would be horribly wrong. What these continuing attacks on the corporation will do is show that they are trying to create a distraction — and that they risk destroying something true conservatives would try to protect: an incredible example of what is great about this country.
