Temperama

Big Trouble, BBC

The BBC's recent troubles have brought forth gleeful condemnation from the usual quarters - most notably right-wing newspapers which constantly attack the Corporation for supposed left-wing bias or whose proprietors bitterly resent the licence fee. The low motivations and bare-naked hypocrisy of these critics make me more supportive of the Beeb than ever; even more mindful of the slew of dross broadcasting in Britain would be "free" to become if "Auntie" were to disappear. I mean, have you watched TV in Italy, lately? I can put up with the plodding managerialism, the irritating cross-promotions, the bland prime time dramas, the recent, servile over-coverage of Alastair Campbell's cash-in diaries, even the sickening sums paid to third rate "stars" like Clarkson, Ross and Moyles because I know the BBC must compete to survive and, most of all, because I believe that at the heart of the BBC lies an integrity that few other media organisations possess. That's why the recent debacles over the queen and Blue Peter have been so troubling - they've handed ammunition to the BBC's most obsessive enemies which even supporters like me can't defend it against.

Campbell Diaries

Tony and Alastair never did a deal with the Daily Mail like they did with Murdoch and his titles. That's why Campbell called the latter "evil" but not the Sun, which is every bit as violently right wing. Fearless principles, eh? The Evil One's line on the Campbell's diaries (yawn) can be sampled here and here.

DeGraded TV

Janine Gibson in The Guardian.

"There's a dangerous attitude circulating that it is somehow overly pious to get upset about breaches of trust between broadcasters and audiences. This is pernicious and needs to stop. Broadcasters, as Grade understands, operate from a privileged position. Generations of viewers expect the box in the room to operate to a higher standard than junk-mail purveyors or email phishers. Television deceives viewers in so many ways it has increasingly become incapable of distinguishing between the harmless and the harmful."

Now read on.