How do you solve a problem like the BBC? The organisation has, over the years, gone from strength to strength and given us lots of great things.
But, for all the good it does, and all the new ground it’s broken since being created, there are times when it deserves criticism.
Take this weekend’s Grand National for example. The main event in the horseracing calendar is a world famous occasion.
Tragic event
Yet Saturday’s was marred by the death of two horses. This was obviously a tragedy, which needed covering.
Yet the BBC shied away from doing so.
Rightly, it received criticism for that. It may not have seen it as being a very sensitive or politically correct thing to do during the showcase event, but even so, an organisation like the BBC should have covered it in more detail.
Ammunition
It’s times like that which do the broadcaster no favours and give ammunition to critics.
Yet for all the damage it does itself, there are moments of genius.
Take a programme which I watched yesterday, called ‘The Truth about Lions’ (catch on iplayer if you missed it).
Brilliant wildlife shows
It chronicled the rise and fall of the animal in Africa, and was another in a long line of high quality wildlife shows which has been produced by the beeb.
So, what deserves more notice? The times when it makes mistakes, or the times when it blows us away?
It’s a hard one to decide, made more complicated by the fact that we, as viewers, pay the licence fee.
What do you think?
Sadly, it’s an issue which could be discussed in a lot more detail than I can go into here.
But what do you think? Should be more critical of the organisation? Or should we let it be?
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