Saturday 29 August 2009

"The only guarantor of independence [in journalism] is profit."

I am so repulsed by this statement by James Murdoch (following in his father's footsteps in gunning for the "state-sponsored" BBC), but couldn't think of a way to riposte, until now.

All I can say is, if the BBC is so "sinister" and state-funded, how come his sniping lecture has received such excellent coverage on the BBC? Would he have received anything like as much coverage on the News International channels, had he been a jealous BBC executive talking about Sky News?

Shamefully, many of the newspapers (even the non-Murdoch owned ones) have also rubbed their hands in anticipation at this speech, all jealous of the BBC's online news service that is funded through the license fee - which I fear will become obsolete in the years to come.

The day we lose good news through market forces, is the day we begin to lose our freedom.

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