We've been promised a 'big speech' from BBC DG Tim Davie this week. Bits of it seem to have been given to that prominent supporter of public service broadcasting, The Telegraph.
They've selected Mr Davie's thoughts on the horrible future of the UK without the BBC. "British storytelling", he will say, is being " squeezed out" by international streaming services; foreign-owned social media platforms will use their algorithms to dictate global viewing; "Misinformation is weakening our shared understanding of the world, undermining trust in our society and our democratic processes; It leaves many of us wondering who and what we can believe, and even questioning the concept of 'truth'".
The Telegraph writers will probably have some empathy with the bogeyman threat of 'foreign-own social media platforms'; how long, we ask, before Americans rise up and complain about the partially-state funded dominance of bbc.com and the BBC app ?
As for 'truth', the BBC would do well to be a bit more cautious with BBC Verify, which cannot and could never be a deliverer of absolute truth. Journalism is tricky stuff, and boastful branding exercises are not proving helpful in the face of detailed scrutiny.
No comments:
Post a Comment