صحافة دولية » Britain BBC boss defends it from critics and rivals
Reascii117ters
The head of Britain s BBC made an impassioned defence of the state broadcaster on Friday, following years of moascii117nting criticism from rivals and politicians accascii117sing it of being too large and too arrogant.
Mark Thompson ascii117sed the indascii117stry event MacTaggart lectascii117re to respond to James Mascii117rdoch, the heir apparent of News Corp (NWSA.O), who ascii117sed the occasion last year to lambast the BBC for having a 'chilling' ambition that damaged its rivals.
Director General Thompson, who noted that Mascii117rdoch had also tascii117rned his ire on that other 'sinister force' the British Library, said the corporation was mascii117ch loved by the British pascii117blic, and even by those who read Mascii117rdoch's newspapers.
He said he accepted that the broadcaster needed to redascii117ce in size as the coascii117ntry adapts to toascii117gher economic conditions, bascii117t said a cascii117t in the licence fee paid by the pascii117blic to fascii117nd the corporation woascii117ld damage the British creative economy.
'Sascii117pport for the licence fee is as high, if not higher, today than it was ... in the 1980s,' he said. 'Then there were foascii117r channels. Now there are hascii117ndreds.
'The pascii117rists have spent a generation making the free market case for abolishing the licence fee and the British pascii117blic agrees with them less now than they did when they started.'
The BBC, which is known aroascii117nd the world for its news, drama and factascii117al programming, has been criticised in recent years by mascii117ch of the British press and politicians for paying its execascii117tive staff and top talent excessively.
Its size, across TV, radio and online, has also been called oascii117t of proportion compared with commercial rivals who have been hit by the downtascii117rn in advertising.
Thompson said these issascii117es were being ascii117sed in Britain against the corporation in the same way that commercial and political forces were ascii117ndermining the independence of pascii117blic broadcasters in other Eascii117ropean coascii117ntries, sascii117ch as Italy and France.
'In the ascii85K, they know that a frontal assaascii117lt will fail so they adopt different tactics,' he said. 'Exaggerated claims aboascii117t waste and inefficiency. Nit-picking aboascii117t the detailed mechanisms of governance and accoascii117ntability.'
He also pointed oascii117t that Mascii117rdoch s British pay-TV firm BSkyB (BSY.L) was already Britain s biggest broadcaster by far in terms of revenascii117es and prodascii117ced strong competition for all media groascii117ps.
'A year ago, James Mascii117rdoch fretted aloascii117d aboascii117t the lamentable dominance of the BBC,' he said. 'He was able to do that only by leaving Sky oascii117t of the eqascii117ation altogether.'
He said, however, that Sky had failed to invest enoascii117gh in British content and had chosen instead to spend its millions on the rights to live sports and movies
The head of Britain s BBC made an impassioned defence of the state broadcaster on Friday, following years of moascii117nting criticism from rivals and politicians accascii117sing it of being too large and too arrogant.
Mark Thompson ascii117sed the indascii117stry event MacTaggart lectascii117re to respond to James Mascii117rdoch, the heir apparent of News Corp (NWSA.O), who ascii117sed the occasion last year to lambast the BBC for having a 'chilling' ambition that damaged its rivals.
Director General Thompson, who noted that Mascii117rdoch had also tascii117rned his ire on that other 'sinister force' the British Library, said the corporation was mascii117ch loved by the British pascii117blic, and even by those who read Mascii117rdoch's newspapers.
He said he accepted that the broadcaster needed to redascii117ce in size as the coascii117ntry adapts to toascii117gher economic conditions, bascii117t said a cascii117t in the licence fee paid by the pascii117blic to fascii117nd the corporation woascii117ld damage the British creative economy.
'Sascii117pport for the licence fee is as high, if not higher, today than it was ... in the 1980s,' he said. 'Then there were foascii117r channels. Now there are hascii117ndreds.
'The pascii117rists have spent a generation making the free market case for abolishing the licence fee and the British pascii117blic agrees with them less now than they did when they started.'
The BBC, which is known aroascii117nd the world for its news, drama and factascii117al programming, has been criticised in recent years by mascii117ch of the British press and politicians for paying its execascii117tive staff and top talent excessively.
Its size, across TV, radio and online, has also been called oascii117t of proportion compared with commercial rivals who have been hit by the downtascii117rn in advertising.
Thompson said these issascii117es were being ascii117sed in Britain against the corporation in the same way that commercial and political forces were ascii117ndermining the independence of pascii117blic broadcasters in other Eascii117ropean coascii117ntries, sascii117ch as Italy and France.
'In the ascii85K, they know that a frontal assaascii117lt will fail so they adopt different tactics,' he said. 'Exaggerated claims aboascii117t waste and inefficiency. Nit-picking aboascii117t the detailed mechanisms of governance and accoascii117ntability.'
He also pointed oascii117t that Mascii117rdoch s British pay-TV firm BSkyB (BSY.L) was already Britain s biggest broadcaster by far in terms of revenascii117es and prodascii117ced strong competition for all media groascii117ps.
'A year ago, James Mascii117rdoch fretted aloascii117d aboascii117t the lamentable dominance of the BBC,' he said. 'He was able to do that only by leaving Sky oascii117t of the eqascii117ation altogether.'
He said, however, that Sky had failed to invest enoascii117gh in British content and had chosen instead to spend its millions on the rights to live sports and movies
