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BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

theguardian.com

171–180 of 225 posts

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their coverage is well within the range of opinion of every political party except far-right AfD. As such, it represents >90% of the voters in last year‘s election. They are not neutral when it comes to values such as democracy itself, and expecting them to be is silly.

> They are not neutral when it comes to values such as democracy itself, and expecting them to be is silly. That's exactly the kind of Skinner box reflex conditioned by public news I was talking about. You know, there are good reasons to defend a civil society threatened by lockdowns, unconstitutional curfews, contact bans, and restricting freedom of assembly. And to criticize our government's over-reaching, yet inef…

None of that is remotely true. Please stop spreading misinformation.

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#172

The BBC's version of the article at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60014514 . > The BBC has declined to comment. Nothing more BBC than the BBC writing an article about the BBC saying that the BBC haven't commented.

Peak BBC is making a story about the BBC headline news on the BBC news website. As if anyone else cared when they opened their new offices. I’ve never really understood the rage the licence fee provokes in a certain type of voter and I have little faith that any replacement proposed by this government will be an improvement.

> Peak BBC is making a story about the BBC headline news on the BBC news website.

You missed a step. The story has to be about "TV Licencing", with the Beeb saying something to the effect of 'we asked TV Licensing to comment'.

The point being that "TV Licensing' is a brand of the BBC. So in effect 'we asked ourselves'.

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this is the case, why did the BBC vote 5 to 1 in favour of Remain[1], despite the Conservative party being down the middle on Brexit. 75% of comedians are explicitly left wing [2] Anecdotally, the sidebar of BBC News UK edition is littered with articles attempting to argue that any inequality between sex or race of people in a unvaried analysis is indicative of system X-ism. Very rarely do people leave the BBC and…

Why? Because they have not had enough time to try to change it yet. But it is happening: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/the-mash-report-axed-bbc-...

The Mash Report is the perfect example: a TV show that was significantly[1] (20%) less popular than shows in that time slot but approved because it sent the correct message

[1]https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2017/07/21/37117/sluggish_rat...

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#174
post #40

I’m not sure how much cut through this has had outside of the UK, but the government are currently in serious trouble because of constant leaks about parties in Number 10 Downing Street during the pandemic - including a particularly poorly timed one the day before the Queen was photographed at her husband’s funeral alone. The leaks are ongoing, so we know that this particular plan is part of “Operation Red Meat”, whi…

Your comment does't make any sense. You are saying that the Conservative party are making this huge change to distract from their current problems. Are you saying they created the entire plan in a few weeks? Do you have any evidence for your extraordinary claims?

> Do you have any evidence for your extraordinary claims?

Anyone who has ever interacted with politicians knows that “The Thick Of It” is a documentary, not a comedy. These are not extraordinary claims at all. Wouldn’t surprise me if Priti wrote the tweet on the toilet with an aide firing suggestions through the door before one stuck.

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#175
post #32

I have issues with the BBC - especially its partisan news reporting on the current government and its performance during the Scottish independence referendum, but would still like it to exist I find BBC drama is consistently of a high quality - and unlike the paid services i can watch 6 episodes and its pretty much ended. Everything on netflix/prime is like 10 seasons of 20 episodes Sad times - but im sure Rupert Mur…

> especially its partisan news reporting on the current government Is that pro-government or anti-government in your view?

Generally pro government, as in wanting more of it, but anti government of the day.

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#176
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This change is more likely a threat to the BBC at a time when they furiously engaged in damage control. It can be rolled back if they "behave". Theyve been making variations of this threat for decades.

The thing is though, none of the leaks have been via the BBC, every single one is via an independent paper or channel - even traditionally right wing publications. The other angle of this is how much Boris and this government are in debt/the pocket of Murdoch and News Corp. Boris and senior government ministers met with Murdoch and News Copt executives 40 times in the first 14 months of Boris’s government. This is as…

Murdoch's been crying about the BBC and the license fee for decades. They are no doubt aware that canceling the BBC would put them even more at his mercy, so in this instance I can see why they might not cave.

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#177
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most journalists have degrees and are aged between 20 and 50. That demographic is certainly "left leaning". The tory base is * Old people who don't work * People with little education, who aren't skilled enough to work as a journalist https://lordashcroftpolls.com/2019/12/how-britain-voted-and-... You (or whoever is downvoting) might not like that, but the fact is that in the UK context the country is left leaning, b…

When papers like the Sun and Mail are the most popular in the UK I think it's hard to agree that Britain overall is left leaning As for the BBC it's firmly establishment leaning rather than left leaning in my view, and they also carry a lot of the blame for promoting Farage's poltics e.g. more appearances on question time than anyone else

> As for the BBC it's firmly establishment leaning rather than left leaning in my view, and they also carry a lot of the blame for promoting Farage's poltics e.g. more appearances on question time than anyone else

As much as I hate everything that is Farage & co, I think that is rather a symptom of the BBC being less biased than other outlets. If you want to claim to be unbiased, you have to give both sides of any argument a voice in a place like the UK, regardless of how terrible or great one side is.

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what multiple newspapers including The Times are reporting, yes. Since Boris' job is on the line, he's apparently panicking and due to roll out a series of popularist policies next week.

Boris is finished, he probably won't last the week. It reminds me of the day when Thatcher fell. Leading Conservative MPs will be currently phoning each other trying to determine how much support they will get if they make a move. Someone who has no serious chance will be nominated as a 'stalking horse' to stand up and challenge Boris. Then the other stronger candidates will put themselves forward to 'save the name o…

it's pretty impressive he survived every single previous controversy and even managed to get brexit through... if he's going to be felled by a badly timed and ill-advised party.

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is great journalistic integrity. I applaud them for that.

Reporting on yourself is the polar opposite of journalistic integrity. Reporting on yourself but not even noting to the reader that you're reporting on yourself is worse yet. Writing a named-author analysis piece about yourself, which they have here at the end of the article, is reaching insanity level. The BBC shouldn't report on the BBC.

> Reporting on yourself is the polar opposite of journalistic integrity.

1. are there any news outlets that abides by this rule?

2. if I get my news from listening to BBC on the radio or whatever, then am I just out of luck?

>Reporting on yourself but not even noting to the reader that you're reporting on yourself is worse yet.

I get how including a disclosure makes sense if the affiliation isn't obvious (eg. washington post reporting on amazon), but do you really need a disclaimer to let the reader know that the BBC in the article is the same BBC that wrote the article?

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#180
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Freeview just a marketing name for DVB-T (or T2 nowadays), which supported encrypted content since its inception and can mix encrypted & non-encrypted channels in the same multiplex?

This is correct but not every TV will have the slot for a decryption card. The UK has good broadband but far from the level of a universal public service. (That would be communism apparently)

> The UK has good broadband

London has good broadband in parts. In the central postcode of a major city in 2019, I could only get 40Mbit broadband, pathetically low compared to the multiple 1-2Gbit options I have in the US for the same price or lower.

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