Alex Proud, of the Telegraph, BBC and C4 tells all:
Why I love the BBC
The BBC upholds genuine British values at home and offers great PR for our country overseas. What’s not to like, asks Alex Proud
Straightforward, intelligent coverage that we can trust.
The BBC is also one of the greatest exponents of “British values” there is – assuming that by British values you mean things like decency, fairness, humour and intelligence, rather than Humpty-Dumptyish political expedience. It’s one of the few British institutions that still seems to embrace a multicultural Great Britain and show how it can work.
I know that US cable has produced some great box sets. But here, you are cherry-picking the very best of a market that is six times as big. And while the US does make Breaking Bad and The Wire, it also produces Fox News, talk radio and the despair-inducing sea of brain-dead commercial squalor that is American terrestrial TV.
Anyway, enough meta-economics, let’s move on to the accusations of political bias. These are easily dealt with as they’re just tosh – and endless studies prove this. The Beeb bends over backwards to be impartial and, given that it is a state broadcaster, has a rather an amazing record of attacking governments on both sides of the political fence. I just wish the BBC would call these people out a little more often – as they’re usually cheap opportunists or politicians who have enjoyed a little too much hospitality.
Actually, come to think of it, I am totally happy for politicians to be as unpleasant as they like about the BBC with one proviso. Before they say their piece, they have to list every single meeting they’ve had with the Murdochs and their minions in the previous two years.
Probably no coincidence this comes out just after IDS says the BBC is damaging democracy with its biased pro-Labour broadcasts….from a man employed by the BBC, one who hates Fox, Murdoch and has pretensions of being ‘intellectual’….’In your 40s though, cerebral pursuits are celebrated… those of us who prefer brainy stuff have been quietly putting in the spadework for 20 years. We really do know what we’re talking about.’
Nah…not so much Alex.
When not writing puffs for the BBC Alex Proud runs various enterprises including the Proud Cabaret where one recurring event is the ‘Killing Kittens Cabaret’:
Killing Kittens Cabaret
We have found ourselves under the heel of London’s most renowned sexual deviants… and we’re all too happy to be there.
In their first ever public outing – Killing Kittens will host a night of the finest burlesque on the London circuit, with a little extra something added. Prepare for a roster of the raunchiest variety performances in the capital and a window in to the exclusive world of whispers that has taken London’s vice-driven nightlife by storm.
Each table will be numbered and equipped with a telephone.
As the restaurant guests acquaint themselves with the spirit of the evening, they will be given leave to place anonymous phone calls to diners of their fancy. Through playful conversation, the night offers a window to London’s thrill seekers to the immersive world of erotic rendezvous.
Yep…it’s all about the intellect, having a good chat and some fine wine…..and a naked romp with some complete strangers….
Don’t think I’ll be lectured about the iniquities of American TV, Fox and Murdoch by someone who works for the BBC and who peddles this ‘filth’ on that crazy free market….not that I’m opposed to filth…just hypocrisy.