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Dyke whining warning over Hutton report
EFL of a BBC article on an issue near and dear to its heart. Rest assured they have an exclusive on this one. - Another unhappy person who has been made into roadkill by the voice of the customer announces, "beware the chilly wind that is a blowing"
The departing BBC director general said the report into the death of Dr David Kelly had been read with "disbelief". Mr Dyke made it clear he did not accept all the report’s findings, and attacked Alastair Campbell as "ungracious". He admitted making mistakes in the way he responded to the government’s original complaints. But he said the concerns of whistleblowers in government and elsewhere had to be reported by the media.
Whistleblowers are now on notice to beware of fabricating and dissembling.
Mr Dyke told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: "It is perfectly fair for you to draw the conclusion that I don’t accept all of the report. Our legal team were all very surprised by the nature of the report. I think it was Stewart Purvis, the former chief executive of ITN, who said... it is remarkable how he has given the benefit of judgement to virtually everyone in the government and no-one in the BBC." Mr Dyke suggested the implications for journalism coming from the report were a matter of grave concern for the media. "Lord Hutton does seem to suggest that it is not enough for a broadcaster or a newspaper... to simply report what a whistleblower says because they are an authoritative source. You have to demonstrate that it is true. That would change the law in this country."
-Snip- you get the jist of his predictable response to criticism.
Meanwhile ministers have stressed the importance of a BBC independent of government influence in the wake of Lord Hutton’s criticisms of the corporation.
Why? The government pays for it, or rather the citizens do. Seems they should have some say in what it does. I have the same problem with NPR. Why should I pay to give somebody who doesn't like me a propaganda outlet?
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said: "A BBC that is nobody’s lapdog, that challenges government and raises debate - that is in all our interests."
As long as they don’t mischarecterize and fabricate that would be fine.
See, I disagree with that. A free and independent BBC financed by other than the taxpayers, be it advertising, corporate grants, philanthropists, or holding up liquor stores, should be perfectly free to challenge the gummint and raise debate. Take my money to do it, and I'll expect stodgy just-the-facts,-ma'am reporting, like Beebs is reputed to have once done better than anyone else. Having a government-funded resource that's anti-government doesn't make any sense whatsoever to me.

Posted by: Super Hose 2004-01-30
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=25295