bbc

"the british broadcasting corporation is a jewel in our crown, but only so long as it is well-run and managed".
this is a quote from a conservative member of parliament (though it was pretty obvious that it would be from someone from the right).
part of the argument the dear tory mp was making came from the rumblings of peter sissons who, after working at the bbc for close on twenty year decided to say just how bad they were to work for. among sissons' complaints was ageism, he had been moved on and he cited that david dimbleby wasn't allowed to do the recent royal wedding. sissons said "...have denied him the royal wedding - a subject he has covered brilliantly for decades". while sissons acknowledges that the beeb had left dimbleby with the weekly 'question time' he ignored the fact that dimbleby also fronts the beeb's various election night coverage.
what sissons seems to be saying is that once you are in a job you get to stay in it all the time. no room for change.
i can understand why a tory mp would see that as a reasonable line of argument. incumbency being the order of the day.

(oh and by the way the last time dimbleby did a royal wedding was back in 1986 - not like it is something he has built his career around).

the tory mp also did the usual the bbc is biased. oh no the bbc is crictical of the government and the economy. oh no the bbc is critical of isreal. he seems to forget the amount of time you get to hear the, frankly mad, voices of the tax payer's alliance or various business groups who just want to abolish any control on them.
really the bbc isn't as biased as those on the right believe it is just that those who claim that the bbc is biased are just so far from the centre.

and of course there is the question of pay.
amazingly the bbc shouldn't pay high rates of pay to its high fliers. it is true that some of the salaries are eye watering for both executives and for presenters, but then it has to be remembered that it isn't a small organisation and it has a lot of different aspects to it. while its funding is public it does exist in the commercial world and in order to get the best it might have to pay the best.
odd how the need to pay the best to get the best argument works when it is applied to those in the financial sector and for lowering tax brackets. (just don't apply it to the public sector).
the tory goes on to point out that the bbc's top presenters/stars get around about 2% of the bbc's total licence fee. he goes on to say "i would just say that i find it slightly annoying that when one or two female presenters are presenting the news on a very serious subject, they smile" (more and more there seems to be a strand in the tories that just seem to be anti-female - just think of those recent comments from david cameron).

it is little more than 'i don't like the bbc'.
quite why the tories have such a hatred of the bbc is something that will always remain a mystery to me.
you have to wonder if there is a tory checklist that if you don't tick hate the bbc and the nhs you are just refused.

i like the bbc.
but with the hatred of the tories aimed at the bbc i think i really love the bbc.