It’s difficult to talk about the BBC without feeling slightly emotional. Growing up in the 90s, 15:30 was pivotal in my daily routine. I’d get in from school, kick off my (newly scuffed) shoes, steal the remote control and plonk myself in front of the voyage of discovery and escapism that was CBBC. I remember pretending that I had Harmony’s magical 50p from “The Queen’s Nose”, and the immense feeling of disappointment when a series of “The Demon Headmaster” ended on the ultimate cliffhanger, only to be resumed “in the Autumn” or something equally as vague. And who can forget Blue Peter – me and my best friend even held a “Bring a Buy Sale” hoping that our £30 would help us to top the light-up ‘totaliser’ and send Katy Hill into exhilaration.
Childhood memories aside, numerous claims have been made recently about the future of the BBC. Since the ‘Talent’ salaries scandal and The Jonathan Ross Incident, a large number of Brits have began to question the need for a public broadcasting service, when so many other channels are readily available. It’s now deemed crucial; something must be done to save, destroy or change the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Since we all pay our licence fees (or scrounge from iPlayer an hour later), we seem to feel entitled to criticise the beeb’s spending. Many critique that the BBC is spending far too much on far too little. The corporation has been accused of being blasé with its budget and has come under fire for ‘wasting license payers’ money’ on unnecessary expenditure.
Furthermore, many feel the BBC is ‘dumbing-down’, based on ‘yoof’ portrayal in “EastEnders” and progressively less interesting Saturday night talent shows. It is, however, important to remember that the corporation has a duty to be fair and representative, and though those with an air of pretense refuse to enjoy “Over the Rainbow” or “E20”, the average citizen may enjoy relaxing in front of the television, witnessing dark horses become heroes in such shows.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I’ve noticed that we are all guilty of forgetting that there is far more to the BBC than just television and radio – just imagine how much effort and how many people it takes to actually make a single programme!
After Mark Thompson (Director General) announced cuts to BBC 6 music, social networking campaigns ensued and many celebrities, including David Bowie, Edith Bowman and Elbow’s Guy Garvey, spoke out against Thompson’s decision, saying it would be a great shame “for new artists to lose 6 Music”. Some claimed it was a PR scandal, others claimed it was fair, others said that it was plain stupid; but whatever your opinion, the scale of the protests really demonstrate the amount of public backing that the corporation is lucky to receive. 17,000 people joined a Facebook group in protest against the cuts, alongside 8,000 others who would prefer to see the removal of Chris Moyles in order to pay for the service. From this, it’s easy to see that most people regard the corporation highly, and consider it a national treasure that needs to be preserved.
The BBC’s award-winning news service and comprehensive coverage of international, national and regional affairs is something not to be sniffed at. It’s a highly complex organisation, and the largest of its kind in the world. It boasts windows for an enormous amount of opportunities, yet we as the public often only reflect on the TV and radio programmes we see. We forget the education services, BBC World and the enormous positive impact on our country’s economy. Looking at the beeb this way, it’s hard to see why certain political parties view the corporation with such negativity. As advertising revenue increasingly struggles and iPlayer takes over, it’s clear to see that the BBC is on its way up.
I don’t want to question the public’s right to criticise. I just wish they’d consider how valuable the BBC is before they question it.
I think people also need to recognise how lucky we are to have an independent institution running our public service television.