Where do we go from here?

More back-and-forth over the reporting of Dr. Kelly’s various statements to the BBC about intelligence on Iraq/WMD. The Guardian reports that the dispute has now raised questions about the Beeb’s future as an exclusive recipient of the licensing fee.

Let’s not forget the two unassailable truths to come out of all this:

* Any change to the BBC’s funding, structure or regulation is ‘sinister‘; and
* Murdoch benefits from this mess and therefore should not be permitted to acquire Channel 5.

I’m still searching for the coherent media policy here. It seems like, instead, we continue to foster certain myths about the British media marketplace. Among these are:

* The BBC’s independence from the government;
* The citizens’ need to be protected from low quality or biased media providers;
* The BBC’s status as a ‘public service broadcaster’ that remedies marketplace deficiencies; and
* Murdoch’s influence and power (is bad for society must be checked).

I’m not saying that these myths do not have elements of truth to them. It’s just that they are, in the words of Lindsay Stirton (see his June 22nd post), ‘never seriously interrogated’. After this weekend, I’m not sure we are any closer.