The sound of brass
February 1st, 2009The Blogdial stance on the ‘independence’ of the BBC is well documented.
Two things crossed my path in the last few days regarding the BBC. Firstly, I read a ‘story’, actually a magazine piece, about Darwin and his attitude to slavery. The piece appeared to suggest that it was his anti-slavery stance which resulted in the theory of evolution clicking into place in Darwins thought processes.
This was on the front page of the BBC website, and in your face on the Science subsection. And all it is is a glorified puff-piece for a book, full of conjecture and nothing more.
We read that…
[…] new evidence suggests that Darwin’s unique approach to evolution – relating all races and species by “common descent” – could have been fostered by his anti-slavery beliefs.
And this new evidence? Nowhere to be found. Everything said in this piece I already knew from reading the excellent Darwin biography published by these same authors in 1992.
So why is the BBC plugging this cash-cow as part of their Darwin season? It is nothing but another example of licence fee money wasted. The BBC is riddled with these pieces; non-news, non-attributed, non-stories of no discernible benefit to licence fee payers.
There I am, glad once again that I do not pay the licence fee, and wondering why those who do pay allow the BBC to get away with such behaviour when this hits my inbox…
>>> -------- Original Message -------- >>> Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: BBC Gaza appeal ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! >>> Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2009 10:25:26 -0000 (GMT) >>> To: >>> >>> >>> >>> To all British TV viewers, >>> >>> We have all seen the terrible devastation of lives in Gaza. Without >>> thinking about the causes for the moment, we can all, as human >>> beings, feel empathy for the children that are being maimed and >>> killed there. >>> >>> The BBC who are financed by our money, have refused to show, quite >>> absurdly and cold heartedly, a humanitarian request for aid to help >>> alleviate the suffering. >>> >>> This is the last straw. >>> >>> The BBC works for us, on our behalf. It is completely wrong that all >>> the people of the UK, the license payers, should have their views >>> ignored and their money spent in ways that they do not consent to. >>> >>> In any other circumstance, if you were not given what you wanted when >>> you handed over money for a service, you would be able to switch and >>> pay for a different service or stop receiving the service altogether. >>> >>> >>> Can you in good conscience support the BBC with your money, when they >>> are so clearly under the influence of people to the extent that they >>> would refuse an appeal for aid to help children in a crisis? >>> >>> There have been other crisis appeals and the BBC has transmitted >>> appeals immediately and in full. It is clear that this is a blatant >>> case of bias. The question now is, what are the other things that the >>> BBC has not shown that should have been? It is clear that we can no >>> longer trust them; if they can sit in their studios and watch >>> children die and refuse to even read out an address to help dying >>> children, they do not deserve our respect and certainly they do not >>> deserve our money. >>> >>> I therefore am calling on all license payers to boycott the BBC >>> license fee on a permanent basis. It is no longer acceptable that >>> they should be able to use the force of law to take money from us >>> when they are so fundamentally out of touch with us and the rest of >>> humanity. >>> >>> If the BBC is going to carry on in any form, they must rely on fees >>> from people who want to watch their entertainment, news and their >>> opinions. Now that TV is digital, they can encrypt their signals like >>> SKY does and ask people to pay for their programming. If people want >>> what they have to offer, they will pay for it. >>> >>> The BBC will then have to respond directly to its audience or cease >>> to exist because no one will pay for their programming. It will no >>> longer be an option for them to say, essentially, that they do not >>> care about what the audience wants or thinks, and that they are a law >>> unto themselves with no accountability to anyone. >>> >>> If you are outraged at the BBC's refusal to show the appeal for Gaza, >>> if you think that it is time for the BBC to grow up and join the real >>> world, and that they should face the consequences of angering their >>> audience, if you are tired of being forced to pay for an organization >>> that doesn't care a whit for your opinion, and acts like you simply >>> do not matter, please forward this to someone you know. >>> >>> Thanks in advance. >>> >>> An Ex TV License payer.
CLANG!
A penny drops.
And somebody, somewhere, finally realizes that money talks. Somebody, somewhere realizes that non-compliance IS an option. Not only that, but non-compliance is the RIGHT option.
Somebody, somewhere has had enough, and I’m surprised it has taken so long. I’m disappointed that it has taken something like the Gaza Appeal Fracas to get them moving, but so what, they are moving.
Without the accompaniment of the sounds of heart strings being plucked, here is the distilled version:
To all British TV viewers, The BBC who are financed by our money. The BBC works for us, on our behalf. It is completely wrong that all the people of the UK, the license payers, should have their views ignored and their money spent in ways that they do not consent to. In any other circumstance, if you were not given what you wanted when you handed over money for a service, you would be able to switch and pay for a different service or stop receiving the service altogether. It is clear that we can no longer trust them; they do not deserve our respect and certainly they do not deserve our money. I therefore am calling on all license payers to boycott the BBC license fee on a permanent basis. It is no longer acceptable that they should be able to use the force of law to take money from us. If the BBC is going to carry on in any form, they must rely on fees from people who want to watch their entertainment, news and their opinions. Now that TV is digital, they can encrypt their signals like SKY does and ask people to pay for their programming. If people want what they have to offer, they will pay for it. The BBC will then have to respond directly to its audience or cease to exist because no one will pay for their programming. It will no longer be an option for them to say, essentially, that they do not care about what the audience wants or thinks, and that they are a law unto themselves with no accountability to anyone. If you think that it is time for the BBC to grow up and join the real world, and if you are tired of being forced to pay for an organization that doesn't care a whit for your opinion, and acts like you simply do not matter, please forward this to someone you know
Without going on too much longer, lets reinforce the message with a little substitution…
>>> HMG will then have to respond directly to its employers or cease to exist because no one will pay for their idiocy. It will no longer be an option for them to say, essentially, that they do not care about what the public wants or thinks, and that they are a law unto themselves with no accountability to anyone.
>>>
>>> If you are outraged at HMGs behaviour regarding [war x, y or z; ID cards, NIR, corruption, nepotism], if you think that it is time for HMG to grow up and join the real world, and that they should face the consequences of angering their EMPLOYERS, if you are tired of being forced to pay for an organization that doesn’t care a whit for your opinion, and acts like you simply do not matter, please forward this to someone you know.
Get the message. And get the message out.