National Broadcasters and the New Samizdat

Silver Members - Listen to Audio Version

Resentment about paying TV licenses has intensified since the social cohesion of countries like Britain and Ireland in the 20th century gave way to confusion about who we are and exactly what the function of a national broadcaster should be in the era of globalism. The Hour, a 2011 TV drama about the early days of BBC current-affairs programming as it broke free of government oversight during the cold war, cast the broadcaster in a heroic light as a teller of truth to power and depicted its investigative reporters as champions of democracy and the common man against a right-wing establishment. It seemed to be telling us how the BBC wants to be seen today.