Orchestrated hostility from the right is undermining public service broadcasting when it has never been more vital
It is hardly surprising that Rupert Murdoch, having surveyed the ramshackle, amateurish beginnings of GB News from his Oxfordshire estate, decided he could do better. His talkTV station, featuring Piers Morgan as a lead presenter, and to be available on regular television platforms including Freeview from early next year, is likely to be a much more professional attempt to give “opinion-led news” a prominent berth in Britain’s media landscape. The dream of a successful rightwing channel to capitalise on cultural fissures opened up by Brexit remains alive.
Against this divisive backdrop, support and adequate funding for public service broadcasting – committed to impartiality and the provision of inclusive programming – is fundamental to a healthy public sphere. But relentlessly, this government proceeds in the opposite direction as it pursues a stealth strategy to chip away at the standing and reputation of the BBC. The latest skirmishes came in the form of the grilling received by Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, at Tuesday’s culture select committee meeting. During the session, along with suggestions that the corporation might be “hiding” payments to its stars via its commercial arm, Mr Davie was obliged to defend the BBC’s impartiality against questioning from Conservative MPs such as Steve Brine, who thought it would be a good idea for Sage scientists criticising the government to be questioned on air over which party they voted for at the last election.