andygardener Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 The BBC is ace. Calls for it to dissapear are utterly foolish. Calls to get rid of a nearly century old brand with global reach are clearly foolish. However looking at whether a funding system introduced at a time when if you bought a television to watch television programs on the only people who made television programs was the BBC is the right way to fund it now seems to be eminently sensible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quisquose Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Calls to get rid of a nearly century old brand with global reach are clearly foolish. However looking at whether a funding system introduced at a time when if you bought a television to watch television programs on the only people who made television programs was the BBC is the right way to fund it now seems to be eminently sensible. Why now in particular? I would say now is the worst possible time to be making sweeping changes given the hysteria and overreaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halibut Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I would say now is the worst possible time to be making sweeping changes given the hysteria and overreaction. I think quisquose raises a hugely important point here, with which I completely agree. What's the rush? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andygardener Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Why now in particular? I would say now is the worst possible time to be making sweeping changes given the hysteria and overreaction. Ideally it would have been done in the past, but as we can't do anything about that then the present seems as good a time as any to start to look at options. It's an issue which polls have for at least a decade shown a minority of people back the licence fee in it's current form so from a democratic perspective it's one worth looking at. I think it's up for renewal in 2016 so it would be the next government which makes the decisions, which would make it an election issue, albeit a minor one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick the Rom Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 The BBC recently had an FOI request turned down requesting that the names of 28 BBC people who attended a top level meeting convened to decide how the BBC reported “climate change”. Now that this list is in public hands. Specialists: Robert May, Oxford University and Imperial College London Mike Hulme, Director, Tyndall Centre, UEA Blake Lee-Harwood, Head of Campaigns, Greenpeace Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen Michael Bravo, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge Andrew Dlugolecki, Insurance industry consultant Trevor Evans, US Embassy Colin Challen MP, Chair, All Party Group on Climate Change Anuradha Vittachi, Director, Oneworld.net Andrew Simms, Policy Director, New Economics Foundation Claire Foster, Church of England Saleemul Huq, IIED Poshendra Satyal Pravat, Open University Li Moxuan, Climate campaigner, Greenpeace China Tadesse Dadi, Tearfund Ethiopia Iain Wright, CO2 Project Manager, BP International Ashok Sinha, Stop Climate Chaos Andy Atkins, Advocacy Director, Tearfund Matthew Farrow, CBI Rafael Hidalgo, TV/multimedia producer Cheryl Campbell, Executive Director, Television for the Environment Kevin McCullough, Director, Npower Renewables Richard D North, Institute of Economic Affairs Steve Widdicombe, Plymouth Marine Labs Joe Smith, The Open University Mark Galloway, Director, IBT Anita Neville, E3G Eleni Andreadis, Harvard University Jos Wheatley, Global Environment Assets Team, DFID Tessa Tennant, Chair, AsRia BBC attendees: Jana Bennett, Director of Television Sacha Baveystock, Executive Producer, Science Helen Boaden, Director of News Andrew Lane, Manager, Weather, TV News Anne Gilchrist, Executive Editor Indies & Events, CBBC Dominic Vallely, Executive Editor, Entertainment Eleanor Moran, Development Executive, Drama Commissioning Elizabeth McKay, Project Executive, Education Emma Swain, Commissioning Editor, Specialist Factual Fergal Keane, (Chair), Foreign Affairs Correspondent Fran Unsworth, Head of Newsgathering George Entwistle, Head of TV Current Affairs Glenwyn Benson, Controller, Factual TV John Lynch, Creative Director, Specialist Factual Jon Plowman, Head of Comedy Jon Williams, TV Editor Newsgathering Karen O’Connor, Editor, This World, Current Affairs Catriona McKenzie, Tightrope Pictures Liz Molyneux, Editorial Executive, Factual Commissioning Matt Morris, Head of News, Radio Five Live Neil Nightingale, Head of Natural History Unit Paul Brannan, Deputy Head of News Interactive Peter Horrocks, Head of Television News Peter Rippon, Duty Editor, World at One/PM/The World this Weekend Phil Harding, Director, English Networks & Nations Steve Mitchell, Head Of Radio News Sue Inglish, Head Of Political Programmes Frances Weil, Editor of News Special Events The only real surprise is that Jimmy Saville is not on the list. There is no indication in the list of names that there was any balance in the discussions that take place – there are many reputable and well known climate scientists and scientists who do not concede the CAGW meme. Without such in attendance, and most especially with so many activists involved, I put it to you that there was never ANY possibility of future balanced reporting on climate. 29 management people from the BBC were also present at the meeting including George Entwistle (disgraced DG), Helen Boaden (disgraced Head of News), Peter Rippon (disgraced Newsnight Editor) Steve Mitchell (disgraced deputy head of news) plus the heads of BBC Comedy and even CBBC! The meeting was to settle the editorial policy regarding AGW (man made climate change). The BBC has fought for 6 years to keep this list a secret, denying several FOI requests and going to tribunal. It is now in the public domain and shows that there was no impartiality whatsoever in the attendees. The invitation of the of Trevor Evans from the US Embassy is contrary to the BBC Charter in which it says that no foreign governments should have influence over editorial policy. The BBC is a rotten organisation - rotting from the head. It is not a fit and proper organisation to hold a broadcasting licence - Ofcom should act to relieve it of such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halibut Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 The BBC is a rotten organisation - rotting from the head. It is not a fit and proper organisation to hold a broadcasting licence - Ofcom should act to relieve it of such. Piffle. Your lengthy list of attendees doesn't in any way establish your somewhat hysterical premise that it 'isn't fit and proper organisation to hold a broadcating license. Man made climate change is a reality. Learn to live with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magilla Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 To quote from your previous posts "one of the main reasons it's as good as it is, is because of it's aimed at the broadest possible audience". If that is the case then why would you expect voluntary subscriptions to fall short of the current tax? Hmm, now let me think. How many people would choose to not pay given the choice and still watch via illegal download or some other means? A lot I'll wager. If there is something for everyone on the BBC then surely most people will be happy to pay for the service and as previously mentioned some who currently dodge the tax will likely get their hand in their pocket when they can no longer watch strictly or eastenders without a subscription. See point above, out of interest, how do you think your system would work if it were applied to other public services? The only people currently paying who would stop paying are those who genuinely do not value BBC programming and would not miss not having access to it. Plus those that say they never watch, but do anyway, and those that download programs to avoid the license fee. If this is a small number of people then it's not going to cause a financial issue. If it's such a significant number that it would cause the per subscriber price to rocket then surely there's a serious problem in a system which would be forcing people to pay for something they neither want nor use. If subscription led to large numbers of people getting rid of the BBC channels then that would suggest it's somewhat less well regarded or essential than some seem to think, in which case they'd have to look at ways to attract more subscribers - like ensuring a range of programming which appeals across the board, which we kept being told is a core strength anyway so it shouldn't be an issue. Exactly what is the issue here, that everyone pays the same, or that they can't opt out if they have a TV? If everyone who could afford to decided to pay for private healthcare and were allowed to opt out of paying for the NHS, do you think it would survive? (in it's current form, or at all) If subscription TV is so great and such a savior, why is Sky more expensive across the board, yet has a lower quality of program and adverts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magilla Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 The BBC is a rotten organisation - rotting from the head. It is not a fit and proper organisation to hold a broadcasting licence - Ofcom should act to relieve it of such. Welcome back INTERVIEWER. I await your outrage regarding my comparing one public service with another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Womerry2 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I think quisquose raises a hugely important point here, with which I completely agree. What's the rush? If I was in any way cynical, I'd say the rush is caused by the need to ride the wave of "outrage" against the BBC that has been manufactured by the Murdoch media. For the record: I would defend the BBC and the licence fee model to the utmost. We need it now more than ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magilla Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 For the record: I would defend the BBC and the licence fee model to the utmost. We need it now more than ever. Indeed, couldn't agree more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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