Does Peter Oborne not think the BBC is ethical, an organisation without a proper, working moral framework? Does he think it needs such a firm grip at the tiller that Seb Coe couldn’t cope?
Lord Coe failed to instil a culture of honesty at Fifa. Why would he do better at the BBC?
This concerns Lord Coe’s record as head of Fifa’s Ethics Committee in 2007. Allegations of Fifa corruption were swirling around even then. BBC Panorama sought to question Lord Coe as to what the ethics committee, which he chaired, was doing about it. He refused to answer or even detail his responsibilities. I urge anybody wishing to assess the suitability of Lord Coe as Chairman of the BBC Trust to watch him avoiding questions about Fifa’s corruption scandal when Panorama’s Andrew Jennings door-stepped him.
Had Coe had adopted a more transparent and forceful approach as chair of the ethics committee, Fifa might not be in the mess it is in now. He clearly failed to instill a culture of honesty at Fifa, as the sordid tale of bribery associated with the later Qatari World Cup bid shows.
As the chairman of the BBC Trust, one of Lord Coe’s central obligations would be to set a moral framework at the BBC. His record at Fifa suggests that this would be beyond him.
Instilling licence fee payers trust in the BBC Trust would be impossible for anyone who failed to sack all those lefties, but then I am sure the intention is for Lord Coe to preside over the abolition of the BBC Trust, especially now that the BBC gets over 20,000 complaints every month.
The whole concept of a state funded national broadcaster is seriously flawed in a 21st century democracy. All state funded organisations will, over time, become advocates of ever more state funding and big government and move further and further to the left. The BBC is a perfect example.
The media has a powerful influence over what news people are aware of , how events are interpreted and, eventually, how people vote. Therefore in our democracy we need a truly pluralistic media serving up a range of news and views from across the whole political spectrum so that people can decide what they think and how they should vote. Democracy is certainly not well served by having its media dominated, almost to the point of a monopoly , by a single state funded organisation which promotes a liberal left world view and denigrates any views which clash with that.
Therefore abolition of the BBC, or at least the complete removal of all state funding, is the best way to serve democracy. So it really doesn’t matter who heads the BBC Trust because only government can pull the plug on the over mighty BBC. I hope that Mr Javid has the guts to do it. It would be a great service to our democracy.
Totally agree with everything you say. Force the BBC to become a subscription service like Sky.
It would be the best comedy the BBC have produced in 30 years watching them squeal like stuck pigs as they watch the public funded gravy train disappear and the reality of having to produce programmes people may want to watch hit home.
I can visualise Twistwam and Ariadne hugging each other and wailing pitifully about being unable to guide the peasants along the path of politically correct righteousness.