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BBC controversy refers to disputes that have been widely reported elsewhere which can be documented as to their source
within this article. Although the BBC has attempted to distance itself from controversy, it has generated controversy due to its
unique position within British society. The following documented
subjects reflect some of the controversial issues in which the BBC has become involved. The reporting of the controversy does not
imply either agreement or disagreement with any aspect of the controversy itself, merely that the controversy has taken place and
that it has been widely reported and previously documented.
Brief history
One of the first controversial issues in which the BBC became involved was over the question of funding and the control of
programming. In the United States radio broadcasting had already
developed to the point that there were "listeners-in" within the British
Isles, prior to any broadcasting service being licensed by the British government (British General Post Office - GPO) within
the British Isles.
As a result of these technical and social developments, in 1922 the British government
(GPO) forced all of the British electrical companies and the American subsidiaries doing business in Britain, into a single
cartel and monopoly which called the British
Broadcasting Company Ltd. This arrangement lasted until January 1927 when the present
British Broadcasting Corporation
was given its first Royal Charter to act as a cultural and information
entity controlled by the Crown.
1930s: Commercial radio controversy
Because the BBC had become both a monopoly and a non-commercial entity it soon faced controversial competition by British
subjects (citizens) who were operating leased transmitters on the continent of Europe before World War II, to blast commercial radio programmes into the British Isles. John Reith who had been given powers to dictate the cultural output of the BBC retaliated by leading the
opposition to these commercial stations. Controversy spilled over into the press when the British government attempted to censor
the printing of their programme information. The pressure was created by the success of these stations. By 1938 on Sundays, it was reported that 80% of the British audience was tuning in to commercial radio, rather than
the non-commercial BBC.
1940s: American Armed Forces controversy
During World War II the introduction of American Armed Forces Radio programming on to the airwaves within the British Isles caused
controversy by the tone and style of their broadcasts. They were very popular and continued to supply the kind of entertainment
once provided by the pre-war commercial stations. The BBC was forced to absorb some of this cultural programming against the
wishes of its original Director General who had left the employment of the BBC.
1950s: Independent Television controversy
In the 1950s Sir
Winston Churchill retaliated against the BBC because of his treatment at the hands of Sir John Reith who had banned him from the BBC airwaves prior to WWII.
Lord Moran (Sir Charles Watson), recorded
that Churchill denounced the BBC as a communist operation which resulted in
Churchill leading the campaign to introduce commercial television into England. (See
reference 3 below.) Details of this well documented campaign are recorded in the book Pressure Group, by author H. H.
Wilson, published by Rutgers University Press in 1961. (See reference 1 below.)
1960s: Offshore radio controversy
In the 1960s BBC Radio once more began to lose its audience to commercial radio, just
as it had prior to World War II. This time the cause of the competition were offshore pirate radio stations, with some of the biggest being financed by money and style originating from Texas. The British government reacted by censoring the stations with a draconian law that
rendered their operations illegal for British participation and the BBC then hired the out of work commercial staff and adopted
the American jingles for themselves.
1970: Jamming controversy
In the 1970s offshore pirate radio reappeared on a well financed offshore station only
to be jammed by British government using high-powered military transmitters with the help of the BBC. The station effected a
change during a General Election and the winning political party continued the jamming policy of its predecessor in power.
1986: Censorship controversy
In 1986 BBC journalists went on strike to protest police raids to silence a series of
BBC broadcasts. The police searched both the BBC studios in Glasgow, Scotland and the London home of Duncan Campbell, a investigative journalist.
Controversy began when on on June 12, 1985,
Graeme McDonald as
Controller of BBC-2 TV, was offered a series of documentaries by the BBC studios in Scotland in conjuntion with an offer to them by Duncan Campbell whose work had previously appeared in the New Statesman magazine. The programmes were six half-hour films by Duncan
Campbell (researched and presented by Campbell and produced according to BBC standards), which illuminated hidden truths of
major public concern. The six programmes were:
- One: The Secret Constitution about a small, secret Cabinet committee that
was in reality the Establishment that ruled the United Kingdom.
- Two: In Time of Crisis about secret preparations for war that began in 1982
within every NATO country. This programme revealed what Britain would do.
- Three: A Gap In Our Defences about bungling defence manufacturers and incompetent military planners who have botched
every new radar system that Britain has installed since World War II.
- Four: We're All Data Now about the Data Protection
Act.
- Five: Still in production about the Association of Chief Police Officers and how Government policy and actions
are determined in the fields of law and order.
- Six: Still in production about communications with particular reference to satellites.
Work began on the series. In April 1986 Alan Protheroe, acting on behalf of BBC Director General Alasdair Milne was asked for permission to bug a private detective who said he could access a
Criminal Records
Office computer. Permission was granted and filming took place. The police were informed and the man was subsequently charged
under Section 2 of the Official Secrets Act.
The sixth programme would have revealed details of a top secret spy satellite and Alisdair Milne had already decided to cut it
from the line-up when the Observer newspaper broke the story on January
18, 1987 with the headline: "BBC GAG on £500M DEFENCE SECRET". Combined with this story
was a report that the Home Office intended to restrict the broadcast receiver
licence fee, the implication being that the Government had decided to censor BBC investigative journalism.
Soon afterwards, a series of programmes on BBC Radio Four called My Country Right or Wrong was banned by the Government
because it might have revealed sensitive secrets. The series was censored only a few hours before it was due to start because it
dealt with similar issues to the television series concerning the British "secret state". However, it was eventually broadcast
uncut, after the Government decided that it did not breach any laws or interfere with national security.
1987: Sacked BBC Chairman controversy
On January 29, 1987 Alisdair Milne was sacked by the Chairman of the BBC. He later wrote
his account of this affair in The memoirs of a British broadcaster. (See reference 2 below.)
2003: Iraq war controversy
In May 2003, the BBC Radio 4 show called Today programme quoted a government official who stated that the British Government had "sexed
up" a dossier concerning weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq, against the wishes of the Intelligence services. A newspaper report claimed that Alistair Campbell (the Prime Minister's Director of Communications and
Strategy), was responsible. The British Government strongly denied the claims and this prompted an investigation by Parliament.
A Ministry of Defence scientist, Dr David Kelly, was named as the alleged source of the news item in another leaked news
briefing. The subsequent suicide of Dr Kelly resulted in an escalation of the conflict between the government and the BBC, during
which both sides received severe criticism for their roles in the matter.
Government enquiries
Hutton Report
The publication in January 2004 of the Hutton Report into Dr Kelly's death was extremely critical of the BBC
journalist, Andrew Gilligan, and the management processes of the
Corporation. In the aftermath both the Chairman of the BBC Gavyn Davies and
the Director-General Greg Dyke resigned, followed by Gilligan himself. This
report criticised the standards of journalism at the BBC, and led to the resignations of Director-General Greg Dyke, Chairman of Governors Gavyn
Davies, and the reporter at the centre of the storm, Andrew
Gilligan. Lord Hutton was accused of failing to take account of the imperfections inherent in journalism, while giving the
Government the benefit of the doubt over its own conduct. (See Hutton
Report for details.)
Butler Report
A second inquiry by Lord Butler did review the intelligence on weapons of mass destruction and the production of the dossier.
Amongst other things, the Butler Report concluded that:
... the fact that the reference [to the 45 minute claim] in the classified assessment was repeated in the dossier later led
to suspicions that it had been included because of its eye-catching character.
Andrew Gilligan claims that the Butler Report vindicated his original story that the dossier had been "sexed
up". Lord Hutton himself is said to be surprised at what he apparently views as an over-reaction to and misinterpretation of
his criticisms of the BBC. (See Butler Report for details.)
In October 2004, the British government finally withdrew the "45 minutes" claim, which was central to the Hutton Inquiry and their claims about the war's legitimacy. Interpretations of
these two reports has been mixed by both postitive and negative comments.
World opinion
International News controversy
The BBC has been banned by a number of governments because of complaints about its news reports concerning political affairs
in countries other than the United Kingdom. The former apartheid régime of
South Africa and the current government of Zimbabwe have banned BBC news reporters. Zimbabwe has proscribed the BBC as a terrorist organisation.
FOX News controversy
The international news operations of Rupert Murdoch which compete
commercially with the BBC news services have accused the BBC of bias in its coverage of the Palestinian cause. Murdoch's Fox News personality John Gibson accused the BBC of having: "... a
frothing-at-the-mouth anti-Americanism that was obsessive, irrational and dishonest". Gibson also claimed that reporter
Andrew Gilligan, who was covering the 2003 Iraq War for BBC Radio 4 in Baghdad, had: "... insisted on air that the Iraqi Army was heroically repulsing an
incompetent American Military" (See:[1] (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,109821,00.html)) However, Gibson's criticisms were
severely criticised by Ofcom when it investigated viewer complaints, stating "Fox News
was therefore in breach of Sections 2.1 (respect for truth), 2.7 (opportunity to take part), and 3.5(b) (personal view programmes
- opinions expressed must not rest upon false evidence) of the Programme Code.". (See: [2] (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/bulletins/prog_cb/pcb_11/upheld_cases?a=87101))
References
- Pressure Group - by Wilson, H.H. - Rutgers University Press, 1961. - History of the political fight to introduce commercial
television into the United Kingdom.
- The memoirs of a British broadcaster - by Milne, Alasdair. - Coronet, 1989. - ISBN 0-34-049750-5 - History of the Zicron spy
satellite affair, written by a former Director General of the BBC. A series of BBC radio programmes called "The Secret
Society" led to a raid by police in both England and Scotland to seize documents as part of a government censorship
campaign.
- Churchill at War 1940 to 1945 - The Memoirs of Churchill's Doctor by Moran, Lord. - Carroll & Graf, 2002. Reissue
ISBN 0-78-671041-1 with an introduction
by (Lord Moran's son, John, the present Lord Moran. This diary paints an intimate portrait of Churchill by Sir Charles Watson,
his personal physician (Lord Moran), who spent the war years with the Prime Minister. In his diary, Moran recorded insights into
Churchill's character, and moments when he let his guard down, including his views about the BBC being riddled with
communists.
- Mass Media Moments in the United Kingdom, the USSR and the USA, by Gilder PhD., Eric. - "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu
Press, Romania. 2003. ISBN
973-651-596-6 - Historical background relating to various controversial issues involving the BBC.
Sources
- See the main article about the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1927 at BBC
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