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Should the BBC license be mandatory? Should the BBC license be mandatory?
Yes, the BBC license should be mandatory Yes, the BBC license should be mandatory
No, the license should not be mandatory No, the license should not be mandatory
A mandatory license fee supports minority tastes A mandatory license fee supports minority tastes
The BBC provides a service for the public good The BBC provides a service for the public good
BBC News is an essential public service BBC News is an essential public service
The BBC World Service serves the national interest The BBC World Service serves the national interest
The BBC doesn’t account for the majority of TV The BBC doesn’t account for the majority of TV
The BBC Trust cannot be trusted The BBC Trust cannot be trusted
The license fee disproportionately affects poor households The license fee disproportionately affects poor households
The TV license is unpopular The TV license is unpopular
Linear TV is dead Linear TV is dead
The license fee is impossible to enforce The license fee is impossible to enforce
The mandatory license stifles innovation The mandatory license stifles innovation
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Should the BBC license be mandatory?
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No, the license should not be mandatory

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The BBC Trust cannot be trusted

The BBC Trust, which receives the license fees, has proven it cannot be trusted with the responsibility.
Robin Aitken Fran Unsworth
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Context

The BBC Trust is the organization that receives the license fee revenue.

The Argument

The BBC Trust was originally established as a regulator that was supposed to hold the organization to account. The Jimmy Saville crisis demonstrated that the BBC Trust cannot be trusted to handle sensitive matters. It was heavily influenced by the BBC management and worked to cover up the extent of Saville’s abuse. The Trust also engaged in a £450,000 payoff of the former BBC director-general George Entwistle, double the figure it was contractually obliged to payout. Entwistle only held the job for 54 days after he was forced to resign over a Newsnight program that made false accusations of paedophilia against Lord McAlpine, a former senior Conservative politician.[1]

Counter arguments

The trust has proven several times that it is willing to break with BBC management over high-profile decisions. In 2010 it rejected the attempts from BBC management to close its six music digital radio stations.[2]

Proponents

Premises

[P1] The license fee should go to an organization that can be trusted to use the money responsibly. [P2] The BBC Trust cannot be trusted to use the money responsibly. [P3] Therefore, the license fee should not be mandatory.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] The BBC Trust can be trusted with the money.

References

  1. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/nov/22/bbc-director-general-trust-newsnight
  2. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/jul/05/bbc-6-music-saved
This page was last edited on Monday, 30 Mar 2020 at 09:37 UTC

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