IT TAKES a perverse talent to achieve what Hutton, Blair
and Campbell et al did within the BBC last week. At a stroke they united tens
of thousands of BBC workers in support of their multimillionaire former bosses
who were initially seen as ‘Tony’s cronies’.
Ken Smith
Allegedly, there’s a civil war going on inside the BBC. But
if so, it is a civil war of unequal proportions. The overwhelming majority of
the BBC’s workforce are incandescent at the attempted witch-hunt of the BBC by
one wing of the establishment around Hutton and the government. They are almost
as angry at the establishment inside the BBC who are preparing to roll over and
play dead to satisfy Alistair Campbell’s bloodlust.
But many BBC workers realise that behind the war with the
government are more than just the issues of BBC independence and integrity.
Many suspect, correctly, that another agenda is emerging more openly in the
run-up to the BBC’s charter renewal.
The Hutton Inquiry report was leaked to the Sun, confirming
how close the Murdoch empire is to Blair and his courtiers. The Downing Street
clique will be delighted for Murdoch to increase his already substantial
influence in Britain at the expense of the BBC and other media organisations
(some of whom, like ITV and the Telegraph group are also experiencing crises at
present).
If Murdoch were to expand his slimy tentacles it would suit
Blair and Campbell to have a public broadcasting system similar to Murdoch’s
Fox News in the USA, which uncritically repeats every sliver of propaganda from
the Bush regime.
The BBC was not, contrary to some government insiders’
claims, anti-war; as anyone who tried to get media coverage for the anti-war
movement would confirm. The BBC proved during the war that it is part of the
establishment. But, having to reflect public anger, neither was the BBC
completely uncritical of the government, which is what Blair and Campbell
wanted.
Factual reporting
BBC HEADS and Andrew Gilligan himself admitted that
(relatively minor) errors were made of attribution with his initial source. But
as the full transcript of Hutton reveals, Gilligan’s story was overwhelmingly
correct (as was Susan Watt’s Newsnight piece, which made the same point and was
based on the same source, Dr David Kelly).
Indeed, all the BBC’s reporting under scrutiny at the
Hutton Inquiry was immeasurably more factual and accurate than government
intelligence dossiers. And, none of the BBC reports were at all influenced by
‘subconscious’ thought processes.
After Hutton polls show a substantial majority of the
public believe the BBC told the truth, by a margin of 3:1 against the
government. The ‘accuracy’ of Gilligan’s report and the subsequent
government/BBC war was a diversion from the real issues raised by BBC reporting
after the war, which Blair is increasingly under pressure over.
It remains to be seen who will replace Gavyn Davies and
Greg Dyke. But, whoever emerges, BBC workers will have to ensure that their
trade union organisations take a determined stand to protect any journalist or
BBC employee who faces pressure for being critical of the government, big
business or any establishment figure.
The National Union of Journalists’ threat of organising
strike action if Andrew Gilligan was sacked was not put to the test – Gilligan
resigned. Nevertheless, BBC workers will stage protest action again on 5
February.
BBC workers and the wider public can have no trust in the
BBC board of governors, whose "grovelling" apology to the government
is viewed as a humiliation by BBC staff.
Instead, to ensure a BBC free from commercial influence and
ensuring relatively independent journalism, the BBC board should be genuinely
representative of society as a whole, which includes having elected
representatives from workers’ organisations like the trade unions.
