2023-09-07 17:00:00
MEDIA – Faced with the rise of new platforms and the decline of its audience, the historic British public service broadcaster, founded in 1922, is working to maintain its reputation as a leading global player. However, numerous scandals impact the BBC, which is also struggling to adapt to the digital age.
The BBC is fighting to remain a media reference on a global scale while internal controversies, the flight of talent and the pressure of new consumption patterns threaten one of the emblems of British culture.
A model of rigor and even national pride for decades, the audiovisual consortium, sometimes affectionately called “the Beeb” by the English, is going through a crisis which is forcing it to justify its own existence. Because the context is hostile to it: proliferation of alternative online information platforms, campaign of hostility from certain politicians, and fierce competition with formidable rivals like Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
Additionally, the funding model, based on a mandatory fee that British citizens pay annually, partly contributes to the BBC’s recent problems. The direct contribution of citizens implies an enormous responsibility in return, particularly in matters of ethics and professional conduct. Any deviation can then have particularly costly consequences when the reputation of the public information service declines. If the crises are treated transparently in the eyes of the public, the media coverage in which the BBC plays the role of both protagonist and observer does not make the situation any easier.
Controversial journalists
Thus, the recent sex scandal involving Huw Edwards, one of the channel’s heavyweights, temporarily removed from the screen, represents one of the most obvious cases for which the company is seeking to atone for its failures. Edwards was not only the BBC’s most familiar face, but the embodiment of what the channel wants to project: rigor, solidity and confidence. Although the journalist continues to be sidelined, the incident highlights the extreme vulnerability of the company in the current political climate.
What in another media would be anecdotal triggers a national discussion on the BBC. The example of Gary Lineker is the paradigm: the sports presenter, highest paid star, was temporarily suspended in March from the popular show Match of the Day, which reviews Premier League matches every weekend. For what ? Making a comparison on social media, he compared Rishi Sunak’s executive rhetoric on migration to that of 1930s Nazi Germany. After complex negotiations and a torrent of commentators who refused to replace him as a sign of solidarity, Lineker returned. But the affair shows the pressures the BBC is under, both from outside and including towards its much-vaunted neutrality.
Departure of the president and flight of talents
The controversies even reach the top of the consortium hierarchy. Last April, Richard Sharp was forced to resign as chairman for breaking the rules on public appointments. He had failed to declare his links as a matchmaker with a loan of 800,000 pounds (920,000 euros) granted to Boris Johnson when he was Prime Minister.
The controversy made his retention in this role impossible, while intensifying criticism of his alleged closeness to the Conservative government, following years of political pressure and threats of funding cuts…
The debate over the slippery slope of neutrality has also led to a talent drain among “big names” among journalists or presenters who have migrated to other platforms. The exodus has less to do with financial gains than a desire to expand editorial positioning beyond the balance imposed by the BBC’s manual of style, particularly in a climate of increasing political polarization.
When Andrew Marr, who for decades was the standard-bearer of the flagship political show The Andrew Marr Show, a rejoint Global Player, his radio station, LBC, promoted the signing by claiming that Marr “recovered his voice”.
Other popular figures such as Jon Sopel, Emily Maitlis and Lewis Goodhall followed him to create The News Agent, a daily podcast that doesn’t mince words and has become the most listened to in the UK. The latest to announce her departure is Yalda Hakim, one of the most promising stars who, by moving to Rupert Murdoch-owned Sky News, deepened the channel’s identity crisis. She was part of a quintet of collaborators with whom the BBC wanted to represent the new era of the news channel. It was a failure and does not bode well for the future.
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