You will probably have struggled to miss the news story about the BBC which led to the Director General and the CEO of News resigning this weekend. Donald Trump is certainly not wanting you to miss the story. He is threatening to sue the Beeb if he doesn’t receive an apology and maybe still then anyway.
The news has been polarising. I’ve seen and heard a lot of comments from people who joyfully regard this as the BBC finally getting its comeuppance for leftwing bias. However, there have been others expressing alarm including the leader of the Lib Dems, some Labour MPS and Evangelical influencer, Krish Kandiah.
From their perspective, the narrative is that there is an outside, and right wing attack on the BBC, a beacon of light for freedom and democracy and a national treasure. I agree with much of what they have to say in terms of their affection for the BBC. For most of us, its to Auntie (as the BBC is known) that we turn to for those big occasions. You watched the announcement of the Queen’s death there, it was BBC presenters who kept you company on General Election Nights and you always feel better watching our national football teams on the BBC rather than ITV, if only to avoid adverts.
However, I think that those reacting defensively may be missing the point and in so doing may not being as helpful friends to the national broadcaster as they think. Here’s why. First, they have focused on one story, the splicing together of Donald Trump’s words to make it sound as though he incited actual violence at the Capitol Hill demonstration. I’ve even heard it suggested that splicing those two different parts of a speech together didn’t change anything but it did and materially so,
There are six major issues with making that kind of argument. First, it gives the impression that the means are justified by the ends, that Trump was fair game and so all that matters is the target. Secondly, it sets a precedent that it is okay to manipulate what people say to get them to say what you want them to. In a world of AI and deepfake that’s actually quite a disturbing thing to happen and will increase the anxiety of many people. If it is okay for the BBC to do that to Donald Trump, does that mean that it’s okay for someone to do that to anyone else?
Thirdly, by putting the focus on an unsympathetic figure, it gives the impression that there aren’t any other victims or worse that other victims are similar to Trump. The message then is that those who are affected by BBC reporting deserve it. This is victim blaming. And fourthly, what that does is to minimise what has gone wrong. Put together the Donald Trump story, the reporting of Gaza and other examples then what you begin to see is something that looks habitual and systemic, something within the culture of the BBC. I am not convinced that this is about left and right per se. However it is about a culture, about how truth is approached and validated and how an organisation’s group think creates blind spots so warnings are missed and those seen as not on the inside go unheard.
Fifth, I am concerned by the way that this has been portrayed as a kind of right wing coup. That seems to be partly because the opposition have made hay out of this, though surely you would expect them to do that, regardless of who was in power. However, it also seems to be because the story was uncovered by the Daily Telegraph, a newspaper that leans centre right. This though plays down the fact that the DT have a history of investigative journalism that has uncovered a number of issues including the MPs expenses scandal in the noughties. And they have done so without favouritism towards any political party. They have demonstrated the ability to separate news reporting from opinion columns. We need to be careful that we don’t shoot the messenger if they don’t fit our own politics.
Sixthly and this is the important thing for Christians. The reaction here looks very similar to what we have seen over the years when a story has broken about scandal. This has included with church issues. There has been speed to rally round the institution and protect it. When that happens, voices of those affected are silenced, justice is not done and lessons are not learnt.
If you want to save the BBC, then it is worth remembering that if it falls, it won’t be because of Donald Trump but because it brought this on itself. If we want to save the BBC then the best way to do so is by making sure that the issues raised are addressed properly.
Faithroots 