Encyclopedia of Opinion
Question
Should the BBC license be mandatory?
Position‹2 of 2
No, the license should not be mandatory
Argument‹4 of 7›

The BBC Trust cannot be trusted

The BBC Trust, which receives the license fees, has proven it cannot be trusted with the responsibility.

The argument

The BBC Trust was originally established as a regulator that was supposed to hold the organization to account. The Jimmy Saville crisis demonstrated that the BBC Trust cannot be trusted to handle sensitive matters. It was heavily influenced by the BBC management and worked to cover up the extent of Saville’s abuse. The Trust also engaged in a £450,000 payoff of the former BBC director-general George Entwistle, double the figure it was contractually obliged to payout. Entwistle only held the job for 54 days after he was forced to resign over a Newsnight program that made false accusations of paedophilia against Lord McAlpine, a former senior Conservative politician.

Context

The BBC Trust is the organization that receives the license fee revenue.

Premises

[P1]The BBC Trust was created to hold the organisation to account, yet the Jimmy Savile crisis showed it was heavily influenced by BBC management and helped cover up the extent of the abuse. [P2] The Trust also paid former director-general George Entwistle a £450,000 payoff — double its contractual obligation — after only 54 days, following a false Newsnight paedophilia accusation against Lord McAlpine. [C] Therefore, the BBC Trust cannot be trusted, so the licence should not be mandatory.

Counter-arguments

The trust has proven several times that it is willing to break with BBC management over high-profile decisions. In 2010 it rejected the attempts from BBC management to close its six music digital radio stations.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] The BBC Trust can be trusted with the money.