Friday 12 August 2016

CUT press release on dismantling the BBC



C U T


Press release

A Clear Vision for the future of British Broadcasting

The Secretary of State says 'nobody's talking about dismantling the BBC' – in our news report CUT asks why-ever not? His Green Paper assumes business as usual, perhaps with a bit of tinkering at the edges; CUT calls for radical reform.


The BBC achieved incorporation by making essentially fraudulent claims and has retained its status by deceit, scaremongering and self-serving propaganda campaigns. It has fought to retain its own privileges and to destroy any competition whenever it has had an opportunity, making it a barrier to development down the decades. Abolition might seem unthinkable, but the alternative – in this, the age of the internet – is chaotic collapse.

We propose:
·         Transition in under twelve years
·         Privatisation of BBC News
·         Dissolution of the drama, light entertainment and factual programming sections
·         A new public sector broadcasting service letting people see and hear just where their taxes are spent with extensive coverage of the Arts Council subsidised arts
·         Transfer of support for popular musical genres to a new section of the Arts Council


If this option is not taken at this stage, we propose licence fee reform:
·         Redefinition as a fee for BBC services to decriminalise non-payment
·         Relate the fee to the amount of TV content viewed via television sets and phase it out when 80% is viewed via internet-enabled devices
Let the BBC charge pro rata or variable packages for TV via the internet.