Populists who attack the BBC don’t understand the values that underpin something fundamentally important to British life – the culture of collective endeavour operating without vested interest or favour.
It stands in stark contrast to other media outlets, especially so-called ‘free’ social media platforms full of misinformation, owned by power-hungry, money-grabbing tech billionaires, making it ever more important to protect the BBC model.
The BBC website alone is one of the best free resources the world has, not to mention its less well-known activities, such as BBC Media Action, which enable Britain to use its soft power in the world.
It also allows British talent to succeed and increases the diversity of home-grown artists in otherwise middle-class arenas.
The BBC helped shape my own outlook, a working-class child decoding the world through The Late Show, The Wednesday Play, Panorama, Horizon, The Old Grey Whistle Test, a world I was ill-equipped to navigate as a second-generation Irish child of the 60s and 70s.
Today, I have Imagine, David Attenborough, the OU, Front Row, More or Less enriching my life, alongside high-quality dramas like Strike, Ludwig, Magpie Murders, Dr Foster and The Night Manager which bring entertainment and excitement.
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