Bread and circuses: it seems we are being encouraged to tranquillise ourselves with the TV – otherwise why are poor people being helped to pay an optional cost?
Nobody needs to have a television. It is something we choose to have, in order to entertain and inform us. And in fact, most of the shows people watch are drivel (especially the news).
But the UK’s unique system of funding public service broadcasting puts the government in a difficult position. Does anybody else in the world pay a tax before being allowed to enjoy this form of entertainment? If not, then our legislators are penalising us for wanting what everybody else can have as a matter of course.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
The TV licence is levied in order to guarantee that we enjoy a certain standard of programming, by giving us the BBC – a publicly-funded broadcasting service from which quality is assured.
But it could be argued that political interference – particularly from Michael Gove-style Tories who imagine that the BBC is stuffed full of lefties and have therefore stuffed it with Tories like themselves – has harmed any such quality.
That makes it hard to justify the £5 increase scheduled for the licence fee from next April (2025).
So that’s probably why we’re being told more people are being allowed to pay by instalments.
But here’s a thing: can’t everybody do that? This Writer pays monthly because it allows me to keep tabs on my spending across the year, and I can’t recall it being linked to low income.
The big question, though, is whether anybody is getting value for money, considering the amount of time we spend watching BBC shows.
Younger audiences and those from poorer social or economic backgrounds are spending less time on BBC channels, indicating a disengagement that could encourage criticisms of elitism by the Corporation.
Bizarrely, an Ofcom report has praised the BBC’s news content, highlighting escalating international conflicts as times when audiences need trusted news sources. But the BBC’s reporting of the Gaza conflict (for example) has been terribly one-sided, on the side of Israel.
These are all issues that should be discussed during the government’s review of the BBC’s charter, which sets out the terms and purposes of the BBC’s existence, normally for a 10-year-period, and is up for renewal in 2027.
Apparently the review will “incorporate independent expert advice, stakeholder views and public consultation to decide on how best to support the BBC’s long-term future”.
Who are the stakeholders whose views are taken into account, and which members of the public are consulted… and indeed, what questions are they asked? These all have a bearing on the results they gather.
I think the rest of us should be told what these people are set to be asked, just so we can identify it, if politics get in the way.
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The Livingstone Presumption is available
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The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Why are poor people being helped to pay an optional cost?
Bread and circuses: it seems we are being encouraged to tranquillise ourselves with the TV – otherwise why are poor people being helped to pay an optional cost?
Nobody needs to have a television. It is something we choose to have, in order to entertain and inform us. And in fact, most of the shows people watch are drivel (especially the news).
But the UK’s unique system of funding public service broadcasting puts the government in a difficult position. Does anybody else in the world pay a tax before being allowed to enjoy this form of entertainment? If not, then our legislators are penalising us for wanting what everybody else can have as a matter of course.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
The TV licence is levied in order to guarantee that we enjoy a certain standard of programming, by giving us the BBC – a publicly-funded broadcasting service from which quality is assured.
But it could be argued that political interference – particularly from Michael Gove-style Tories who imagine that the BBC is stuffed full of lefties and have therefore stuffed it with Tories like themselves – has harmed any such quality.
That makes it hard to justify the £5 increase scheduled for the licence fee from next April (2025).
So that’s probably why we’re being told more people are being allowed to pay by instalments.
But here’s a thing: can’t everybody do that? This Writer pays monthly because it allows me to keep tabs on my spending across the year, and I can’t recall it being linked to low income.
The big question, though, is whether anybody is getting value for money, considering the amount of time we spend watching BBC shows.
Younger audiences and those from poorer social or economic backgrounds are spending less time on BBC channels, indicating a disengagement that could encourage criticisms of elitism by the Corporation.
Bizarrely, an Ofcom report has praised the BBC’s news content, highlighting escalating international conflicts as times when audiences need trusted news sources. But the BBC’s reporting of the Gaza conflict (for example) has been terribly one-sided, on the side of Israel.
These are all issues that should be discussed during the government’s review of the BBC’s charter, which sets out the terms and purposes of the BBC’s existence, normally for a 10-year-period, and is up for renewal in 2027.
Apparently the review will “incorporate independent expert advice, stakeholder views and public consultation to decide on how best to support the BBC’s long-term future”.
Who are the stakeholders whose views are taken into account, and which members of the public are consulted… and indeed, what questions are they asked? These all have a bearing on the results they gather.
I think the rest of us should be told what these people are set to be asked, just so we can identify it, if politics get in the way.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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