Arrogant Auntie N ow that we hear that the BBC is
having to cut its television spending at once to keep within its budget for this year, the Corporation's steadfast refusal even to look at the possibility of carrying advertis- ing seems more strange than ever. Although it is greedy enough in its demands on the public, the BBC persis- tently impoverishes itself by depending entirely on revenue so inelastic and politi- cally sensitive as the licence fee. It seems to prefer being a complaining supplicant, rather than a free agent. The way the BBC brushes aside all arguments for advertising as if they were not worth a moment's consideration, is a symptom of its inward- looking arrogance, which makes one ques- tion the integrity and quality of which it boasts. The BBC, after all, has the unique privilege of taking a tax solely for its own purposes from the public. It has to argue seriously why it believes that this is the only way that it can serve that public. Since it does not do so, one must guess that it lacks confidence in its case.
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