News & Views

Whilst I realise anyone younger than 30 will be inclined to think that I am an old fart, one foot in the grave, I think the one advantage of being over 60 is the sobering perspective and sense of reason you acquire as your mortality is gradually absorbed with each successive year and wrinkle by your subconscious. In this I defend my defence of the licence fee for funding the BBC, because it is the one insurance we have to ensure non-partisan broadcasting:

Indulge me when I explain how wonderful it was to visit my Aunt, the last of my parent’s generation of family members, and in the wake of the loss of my parents, uncles and aunts, the solace I felt sharing stories of times past, with my Aunt in her unchanged living room, which was so familiar to me from my childhood stays, fishing with my Uncle, gardening with my Aunt and watching the hummingbird hawk moths dart about her pelargoniums, the tick-tock of her grandfather clock, beating the slow pace of a more peaceful age, as I sipped her home-made wine amongst a kings table of home-grown produce, steaming hot. That familiarity and the wisdoms, understanding and truth I gained from our endless conversations are valuable, rare and precious.

For me the BBC’s presence, essence and independence, assures me of a wisdom and truth – like a bastion in an uncertain world. A world where any country, organisation or clandestine movement can flood the world with fake news and lies to influence us to believe one doctrine or another for their own purposes, purposes that may not be  in our or our countries interests. But I make up my own mind, you say.  Yet we all absorb influences and attitudes from all around us – we are social animals, and social media is the new communication and the new threat to the real facts and truth. Would Trump have been elected without the Russian propaganda machine? Would we have had Brexit? Would we have so many popularists in power around the world? Would be be told black is white, or parties are works do’s by those that would stain the calling of the conviction politician? Call me an Old Fart, for sure, but it is only the truth I advocate for, only the foundation stones of our democracy that I defend.

I don’t work for the BBC, and never have, but I know the value of a licence paid public broadcast organisation. I would prefer to have them as the free TV we all can access, for our protection, and that reassurance they bring – like a favourite Aunt. #socialmedia #broadcast #funding #power