One of the biggest stories dominating the media over the past week has been the BBC Strategy Review and Director General Mark Thompson’s decision to shut down BBC 6 Music. For a nation of licence fee payers, it’s inevitable that any change to the structure of the BBC is greeted with a tide of reaction. While we are all entitled to voice our opinion, should we have any say in the way the BBC is actually run?
The BBC is one of Britain’s greatest remaining institutions, and is rightly respected the world over. But due to the unique way it is funded, it is faced with the impossible task of pleasing everybody all of the time. Many have viewed Thompson’s announcement as a pre-emptive measure in the face of the possible election of a Conservative government which, according to many, will continue to kowtow to Rupert Murdoch in exchange for the support of News International.
With Murdoch effectively dictating Conservative media policy for his own ends, the heat on the BBC could become almost unbearable in the wake of a Cameron government. Yes, there is without doubt a debate to be had about the way our licence fee is spent. But that debate should be led by the public, and not triggered by the demands of a commercial rival.
6 Music may cater to an audience of ‘only’ 700,000, but when it costs just £6m a year to run ( a mere 2% of the BBC’s total radio output) compared to the £100m that the terminally dire BBC Three haemorrhages, you have to wonder if it’s being held up as something of a sacrificial lamb. Is £6m really that much to the BBC in the overall scheme of things?
As you would expect of an audience of DAB listeners, fans of 6 Music have utilised social media to launch a campaign to save the station. With the high-profile support of megastars like David Bowie, Radiohead and Lily Allen, not to mention a U-turn from Tory culture spokesman Ed Vaizey, hopefully the BBC Trust will see sense and block Thompson’s proposals. Otherwise, we’re left with Fearne Cotton as BBC radio’s voice of alternative music. And how depressing is that?
