AS the UK state broadcaster, the BBC is continually under pressure to appear objective in a political, cultural and social sense whilst its alleged independent status has been under a consistent threat from recent governments.
The new incoming director-general, Tim Davie, seems anxious to ingratiate himself and Auntie Beeb with the most right-wing government of this generation by allegedly seeking to restore “trust and confidence” in the BBC by targeting left-leaning comedy shows.
Mr Davie is a former Conservative party councillor and was deputy chairman of the Hammersmith and Fulham branch in the 1990s. Impartial observers may be tempted to have some serious reservations about his motives in launching pseudo-McCarthyite attacks on comedy programmes such as Have I Got News For You, which indulge in mild satirical observations about the UK and world political scene.
READ MORE: Former Tory candidate Tim Davie takes over as BBC director-general
To portray this programme as left-leaning, a viewer would surely have to be quite substantially right-leaning in the first place, and that is a concern. The BBC does not broadcast any programme anywhere near as acerbic as shows like That Was The Week That Was from the 1960s, which cut through much of the pomposity and political hypocrisy of the time.
Mr Davie is said to be keen to redress what he regards as bias in some comedies against the Tory government, Brexit and President Trump, and would like to have more right-leaning comedians on BBC in future. He is plainly sowing the seeds for a Fox News-style revamp for the BBC in the months ahead.
We have already experienced the glaring prejudice of the BBC against people and groups that favour Scottish independence over recent years, none more so than BBC Scotland itself. It is transparently clear that any existential crisis the BBC has faced of late will be postponed, as the Westminster government now has one of its own in charge of affairs. Any pretence of impartiality will be discarded and the BBC may well become the Brexit Broadcasting Corporation.
And as for right-wing comedians? There’s a reason why they’re traditionally not popular with television audiences. In short, they tend to be racist, misogynistic, homophobic, xenophobic, offensive and completely without humour.
Owen Kelly
Stirling
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel