“The very straightforward thing to do in the face of unacceptable governmental pressure and interference would be to say ‘fuck off, do your worst, we’ll fight that’.”
It may not have crossed Lord Bragg’s mind that Tony Hall might fall on his sword after his failure to fend off the government’s plans for the BBC but others do have issues with him……
Michelle Stanistreet: ‘BBC staff and the public have been betrayed again’
NUJ general secretary on preparing a strike at the corporation, why she thinks director general Tony Hall is foolhardy and BBC bullying
On the day she speaks to the Guardian, NUJ reps from across the BBC have gathered to discuss their response to the deal and the cuts that will follow it. “One of the outcomes of today’s meeting is that our members are prepared to take strike action to defend jobs and to defend members at risk as and when they have to,” she says.
The s-word has by no means been unheard-of in the various battles between the union and the BBC – and other media organisations. But this is the first time Stanistreet has been so clear about the union’s resolve to challenge the fallout from the deal that will see the BBC cover the roughly £700m cost of providing free TV licences for the over-75s.
“Staff at the BBC and the general public have been betrayed once again by the very person [Tony Hall] – and the very team of people – there to uphold the values of the BBC, its integrity and its relationship with the licence fee payers. It was beyond belief that another secret, shabby stitch-up was secured without due transparency and consultation and process.”
Hall, she says, “allowed himself to be shafted” by the government. But what else could he have done when he picked up the phone to culture secretary John Whittingdale – was Hall not simply securing the best deal possible in the face of overwhelming pressure? “The very straightforward thing to do in the face of unacceptable governmental pressure and interference would be to say ‘fuck off, do your worst, we’ll fight that’.” That, she says, would have earned Hall the respect and the support of BBC staff, the unions and the “vast bulk of licence fee payers”.
She also doesn’t like the way the BBC discriminates against women.
“You might turn on your television and there’ll be as many women as men presenting. But, if you look behind the screens, that figure becomes incredibly imbalanced. Or you might see women of a certain age on your screens but, once they hit their 40s or 50s, they suddenly become invisible again.”
“Every survey we do … produces anecdotes that continue to make me feel sick or ashamed of the reality of working life for far too many of our women members.”
The “vast bulk of licence fee payers” should refuse to pay and say ‘fuck off, do your worst, we’ll fight that’ to the BBC’s Crapita police.
John Whittingdale is democratically accountable, and should make sure that the immoral way that the BBC is funded is replaced by a moral method of voluntary payment, like the free press, in a free democratic society.
A referendum on the funding of the BBC: Do you want the BBC to be funded by (1) Voluntary Payment (Freeview will become Free for non-BBC channels) (2) Compulsory Payment (Freeview will remain £145.50 per annum for all channels)
Sod it, I am going to have to buy an industrial size popcorn machine
Most of the people who visit this site will rejoice if the BBC staff go on strike. Working on the principle that the ‘the less pollution ( propaganda) the BBC spews out the better’ even a few hours lost due to strike action must be a good thing. If we could encourage the news staff to go on permanent strike we may even see the truth beginning to emerge on a wide range of issues and for the public to realise just how biased BBC news is.
>She also doesn’t like the way the BBC discriminates against women.<
She'll be delighted with the construction of the upper echelons of the new Corbyn Shadow Cabinet then.
Quite an interesting article, and sort of thought provoking.
The first half is dedicated to her thoughts and ideas about the BBC where she describes herself as the BBC’s biggest critic which is probably a doubtful assertion but we’ll put that to one side and she talks about the prominence of bullying and sexual harassment in the workplace, a culture which is apparently prevalent in the BBC and her success in addressing this problem.
Overall though, you’d imagine that her threats to push ahead with strike action across the sector might alert freelance journalists to quite an opportunity.
Also, it should be noted that she is private school educated. The CV at the foot of the article states she was educated at Merchant Taylors School in Crosby Liverpool, where fees currently are set at £3,578 per term. Wonder what the brothers would have to say about that?
I do hope the BBC go on strike. There will be strike breakers of course and it will be wonderful to see violence inflicted upon them by the SWP, and the Corbynite Trots on the picket lines.
The downside will be the one BBC news channel still operating will talk all day about the BBC.
‘…..“Staff at the BBC and the general public have been betrayed once again by the very person [Tony Hall] – and the very team of people – there to uphold the values of the BBC, its integrity and its relationship with the licence fee payers….’
Err! What ‘integrity’ would that be?