A massive struggle session has appeared in the UK left with arguments over defending the BBC or not now that it has been announced that the tv license might be gone by 2027.

The factions seem to be:

A "But it makes good entertainment and documentaries and music and puts lgbt people in shows"

B "Yeah but none of that has anything to do with the extreme political harm it clearly does".

I am in faction B and have no idea how to get through to the first faction. Libs obviously also support the first faction.

I assume Hexbear being anti-treats lately would also be in faction B but could be wrong.

What are your thoughts on the topic overall?

  • HarryLime [any]
    ·
    3 years ago

    My take is that it’s massively easier to fight right wing media owned by billionaires than it is to fight a public institution with respectability and history afforded to it.

    Well, I don’t really have a frame of reference to know if it’s easier, but I do know that it’s extremely hard to counter media narratives when the media is almost entirely privatized, and everyone is polarized. Be careful what you wish for.

    I know my experience is colored by living in the US, where Republicans always get a bug up their ass about PBS every few years. Again, my position isn’t exactly that the BBC is a good thing in itself, but more that public broadcasting is a net good for society overall.