I think everyone's a bit confused here. The BBC is free: the government has no input into what the BBC can or should broadcast. The only control it has is every 10 years when the royal charter comes up for renewal. Now, obviously it's not ideal having the government responsible for anything but once every 10 years isn't bad. It's better than it being owned by some media group that panders to the political inclinations of its bosses and chases ratings in order to sell time to advertisers. It's difficult to think of a better method than the current one.
Slashdot Mirror
I think everyone's a bit confused here. The BBC is free: the government has no input into what the BBC can or should broadcast. The only control it has is every 10 years when the royal charter comes up for renewal. Now, obviously it's not ideal having the government responsible for anything but once every 10 years isn't bad. It's better than it being owned by some media group that panders to the political inclinations of its bosses and chases ratings in order to sell time to advertisers. It's difficult to think of a better method than the current one.