The new BBC

There will always be an England — or maybe not. The editor of a news program for the new BBC expresses himself, with the British nastiness that we can never duplicate, about the supporters of one of the largest political demonstrations in recent British history a few days after his program failed to report the event:

“you may have forgotten why you voted Labour in 1997. But then you catch a glimpse of the forces supporting the Countryside Alliance: the public schools that laid on coaches; the fusty, belch-filled dining rooms of the London clubs ; the Prince of Wales and, of course, Camilla and suddenly, rather gloriously, it might be that you remember once again.”

People rely on each other for particular things, and the same is true of institutions and countries. In America we once looked to England for an ideal of good faith in public service symbolized worldwide by the BBC. The utter destruction of that ideal under Tony Blair is something that touches us all.
Posted by Jim Kalb at October 01, 2002 01:03 PM | Send