In many ways the British Broadcasting Corporation is an admirable institution. Certainly its triple goal of entertaining, educating and informing are highly laudable in a national broadcaster. By and large, the British BC does all of those things. Except, that is, when the chips are down.
Its coverage of the Troubles here was essentially as a mouthpiece for British government policy. Remember the execution of three unarmed IRA volunteers in Gibraltar? The programme that exposed that for what it was, Death on the Rock, was an ITV programme, not a British BC programme. Similarly when Thatcher sent her gunboats to the Malvinas, the British Broadcasting Corporation swung in behind support of ‘our boys’ and their brave reclamation as British some desolate landscape thousands of miles away.
But the news today that Emily Maitlis – remember her with Prince Andy? – has been removed from her position as Newsnight presenter, following her trenchant commentary on the comings and goings of Dominic Cummings, is depressing. If predictable.
Here’s what she said – or the first 25 seconds of it:
“Domic Cummings broke the rules – the country can see that and it’s shocked the government cannot. The longer ministers and the Prime Minister tell us he worked within them, the more angry the response to this scandal is likely to be. He was the man, remember, who always ‘got’ the public mood, who tied the lazy label of ‘elite’ on those who disagreed, he should understand that public mood now: one of fury, contempt and anguish. “
The video of these comments went viral. The management of the British Broadcasting Corporation, as ever, took a fit of the wobbles and disowned Maitland:
“We’ve reviewed the entirety of last night’s Newsnight, including the opening section, and while we believe the programme contained fair, reasonable and rigorous journalism, we feel that we should have done more to make clear the introduction was a summary of the questions we would examine, with all the accompanying evidence, in the rest of the programme.”
And so they delivered to the British government the head of Maitlis on a plate, to let others know that they had better curb their critical comments, even if – especially if- they are true.
Educate? Instruct? Entertain? Pass the bucket, Virginia. I have something I need to put in it.
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