Helping out the Editor

Fraser asked how Britain can compete in the new world of global television. Here are two answers:

1) Don’t give up on the BBC. To use the language of marketing that has been polluting English for a generation, the BBC is a “global brand”. Fraser’s idea that Sky could ever win the same levels of trust is optimistic in the extreme. It would take decades for Sky to build a comparable reputation; longer if the board and shareholders allow the disgraced Murdoch family to cling onto power. BBC bias is a snide and cowardly phenomenon. But let us be realistic. When people talk about BBC bias they usually mean Radio 4 bias. The World Service remains a model of quality journalism.

2) Raid the overseas aid budget. It is absurd that the Department for International Development is spending like a sailor in a whorehouse, while the BBC is slashing the World Service’s budget.