reports the Daily Telegraph:
Miss Ford echoed Jeremy Paxman’s withering attack on the fall in standards on British television, saying it was vital that the BBC differentiates itself from other channels by making “extremely high-class programmes”.
“I do think that complaints about dumbing down are justified,” she said. “I must sound very old-fashioned when I use the word vulgarity, but we are constantly seeing people on screen who are of low intelligence and low education and whose views on everything seem to be made important.”
She also took a swipe at the BBC’s cost-cutting initiatives, which she said were having a disastrous impact on the quality of news programmes.
Paxman and Ford whine about the BBC dumbing down. They’ve been part of the dumbing down, and they’ve profited from it. I’ve had to pay Paxman and Ford for years, even though I have no need of their services.
And I’d prefer it if the BBC employed only young, scantily clad women for TV newsreading. Then there would be a reason for watching it. At the moment it is complete rubbish and of no value as a source of news, so why not give paying customers other reasons to view it?