The BBC has suspended some senior editors after it unearthed a string of fake phone-in competitions that tarnished its reputation and torpedoed the trust of viewers. In its worst crisis since the Hutton report into the death of Iraq weapons expert David Kelly in 2003, the broadcaster has been rocked by its admission that it deceived viewers over the phone-ins, including charity specials such as Comic Relief and Children in Need.
This follows the BBC’s unprecedented apology to Queen Elizabeth for implying in a documentary trailer that she had stormed out of a photo-shoot with photographer Annie Leibovitz.
The corporation has now suspended all phone-ins - but is this enough to win back trust and restore its reputation for integrity? What can the BBC do to win back viewers’ trust? And does it deserve your licence fee?
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2 comments so far
The trust in the BBC doesn’t need restoring as it hasn’t been lost. The front-page coverage these minor stories have received has largely been in anti-BBC publications such as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp Times and Sun magazines. The public is largely wise of the agendas of these anti-BBC papers. i.e. to crush independent, unbiased news coverage.
Anyone who wants to see what the alternative news offered by the BEEBs detractors looks like need look no further than Fox News, that “fair and balanced” Murdoch mouthpiece.
- Posted by Jason Pricethe BBC should remember where it was bourne out of and be reminded they are above all British, and should move allin there way to see the day when they are, once again, the pillar of the community. people from all over the world used to be able to rely on them for there candure honesty and integrity, now they are a pale shaddow of a once mighty corporation. may i suggest they be re-named until they get there house in order and deserve the nations plaudits and, of course, money.
- Posted by Cpl S Gall