Tories using child abuse scandal to bring down BBC
Thursday 15 November 2012
Printable
EmailAmid all the brouhaha surrounding the BBC's handling of the child abuse scandal, we should not lose sight of the Tory Party's long-standing and visceral hatred of the corporation, which they regard as "pinko".
Star readers may remember the 2009 MacTaggart Lecture, delivered by then Tory favourite James Murdoch, which outrageously called for the dismemberment of the BBC.
And readers must be aware of the damage that the Murdoch empire has done to serious US journalism with its rabidly right-wing Fox News.
Tory politicians who do not give a stuff about Newsnight's editorial policy are using the issue to revive the argument that the BBC is a bloated bureaucratic monopoly which should be broken up without delay.
And they are vociferously supported by the Daily Mail and Murdoch titles.
It is a fine but vital balancing act to criticise slipshod editorial standards at the BBC while protecting it from a vicious and unprincipled campaign, cynically intended to bring our best hope for free speech tumbling down.
Pete Foley
Bridgend
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