BBC’s Police Powers Attacked

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

The British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) has been described as “a state agency with police powers to collect a tax”. This unusually honest description of the media giant was made by BSkyB Chief Executive James Murdoch at the Monaco Media Forum and reported by the Financial Times
Criticising these powers Mr. Murdoch said that funding of the BBC had increased by 28 percent over the last five years although its audiences had gone down 10 percent. He added that viewers should be “wary” of the use of taxes for a national news service.
The BBC enforces its right to licence TV viewing by demanding an explanation from all those who do not have a licence. If they use their right not to explain
why they have no licence, the broadcaster has its investigators call at their home to interview them “under caution”, a police expression for interviewing crime suspects.


Posted

in

by

Tags: