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?
I actually don’t care for an organisation that protects paedophiles and platforms nazis and TERFS. They’ve had 75 years to sort out their funding situation, so they clearly enjoy their incestuous relationship with the government of the day.
The threat of fee restructuring has been used as a stick by virtually every conservative government and acts as a convenient distraction to whatever fuck up the government is trying to downplay, and every time there’s a last minute renewal. They already have de-facto editorial control of the BBC thanks to David Cameron so the idea of a ‘public broadcaster’ is laughable.
The real loss would be Channel 4 getting privatised (which they are trying to do and needs to be discussed more), as they regularly question and expose government incompetence and give a voice to minorities, the disabled, and LGBT+. I mean yeah there’s trash on there too like Hollyoaks but taste is subjective.
It’s rough that the educational content is effectively being held for ransom though. A lot of people rely on that, and their documentaries are some of the best in the world. Maybe shutting down BBC News and its adjacent political shows would be enough to cut costs and would serve to keep it as impartial as possible. Unfortunately the alternative is a lot worse, and it’s the threat of exactly that which keeps people in check.