The future for the BBC

I am no hater of the BBC for sure it puts out some questionable political lines and is in all in tenses and purposes a state broadcaster for the government of the day due to its connection with its government funding which is huge. But this week and a few weeks before have seen a debate erupt on the current role of the BBC and its possible future roll in society and beyond. At present the BBC is run as a public body funded partly by government but mostly through license fee payers who most if not everyone has to pay to watch TV in the United Kingdom. This for many years has been seen as a poll tax comparison where no matter how much you earnt you will always have to pay for the TV license and if not you would face a big fine and even jail if it came to it. For years many have seen this as an out of date system where the BBC tries to compete with the likes of SKY TV run by Rupert Murdoch who can go out and get the best programmes first before anyone else due to their independence from anyone and their shear buying power. But what about the future of the BBC. This week there has been talk of decriminalising the non payment of the TV license. I see this as a big step forward in all honesty. Whilst I am a fan of the BBC having been one of its big users in recent times with its excellent I player and its fantastic local radio services including local radio commentary of all football league games including my local side Stevenage FC which for a blind person is very useful indeed. But do the BBC loose out in this sense in not being able to legally chase non payers of the TV license. I am not so sure I do think there are many untapped funding resources the BBC could explore before having to change its own running model as it is at current. Many have said this may see the BBC loose much needed funding but I do not agree I think this is a well over due change to things and hopefully this can give the BBc the kick up the backside many and even me feel it needs. On a media and journalistic basis the BBC is falling behind the others out there offering a similar service it is slow to react to news and often is left trailing its competitors. For example Sky news hosted the first live TV debate on the EU between UKIP leader Nigel Farage and Nick Clegg leader of the Lib Dems in the past the BBc would have been the only game in town for this sort of political discussion but no longer the likes of SKY have beaten them to it and this wont be the last time unless the BBC buck up their ideas I suggest. The BBC is seen as a bloated bureaucratic monster paying way over the odds to directors and managers this must change for it to survive. In this age of austerity the BBC must be seen to be keeping in line as best it can. I do hope the BBC stays around for many more years to come and is not privatised as some in the last week are suggesting is its only way of surviving. I do not agree there is a place for public broadcasting but it does certainly need to freshen up its act without a doubt to keep not only relevant but up to speed in this ever changing society of ours.

The pro's and con's to BBC's comic relief

So it is the time of year again where every celebrity with a record out in the charts or a new book to sell gets their ugly mug in front of the camara fora bit of publicity for waht is a good cause ultimatly.

Call my cynical in my not so old age but have we lost the meaning of things like Comic Relief and Children in need ? The format which hasnt changed for years focus's on certain parts of the world where people are dying or have problems getting by be that through disease or extreme povety.

As a socialist i need not remind people that the povety in the 3rd world as the capitalists like to call it even though we all do live in the same world even though you wouldnt know it sometimes. is all down to the obsurd system we live under called capitalism .

As Mahat Magandi rightly said we have enough on this planet for everyones need but not enough for everybody's greed. This is perfectly put i feel and strikes a chord with me and i hope you to. For years the western nations run charity projects like this there are so many from Oxfam to Children in Need even those that aim to cure crippling diseases like AIDS in Africa. The thing that gets me when i watch television charity fundraisers like this is how ridiculous our world is when we clearly do have the wealth and the means to abolish 3rd world povety by re addressing the balance of economic power handing the wealth to the many not the few but we never do.

People cry about how bad povety is yet capitalism still rules the way sadly. The only way we can eradicate povety in the world is by bringing abotu a socialist change a internationalisation of socialism which is not just a single socialist state which you might say Cuba is today socialism, for it to florish there must be a international solidarity feel to socialism this is where the CWI
Committee for a Workers' International
http://www.socialistworld.net/

comes about linking up socialism with lots of countries around the worlda nd spreading its word.

But going back to my original point showsl ike Comic Relief although highlighting the good work done by campaigners tryign to deal with povety it will only ever go so far. Our pledges of donations to these causes will only go so far it is a systematic change that needs to come about. Letting these countries play their part in the worlda and not having the West's trade restrictions holding them back.

I applaud every effort shows like Comic Relief make but we must remember to go further we must call for bigger change than just bigger donations.