Like the difference in the way that British and Americans respond to the word, “Liberal”?
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Or socialism. 
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Man, I haven’t gone to my Flickr account in years. I found the one that I found most disturbing.
So - kinda neat, somehow my pic has ended up used in various places on the internet, as searching for it shows it came up in a few memes.
Yes. It sounds like the BBC is akin to our PBS (Public Broadcasting System - run by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting) NPR (National Public Radio), or even NASA. Their missions are independent of the government, and no direct oversight, but most of their existence is dependent on government funding.
So my language of “an arm” probably wasn’t very good. But it is part of the overall org chart.
Or “football”.
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It’s the (lack of) thought that counts!
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It seems to be a theme. Melbourne (Aust.) lockdown protestors 5th Aug. outside the main City railway station in Flinders Street apparently assuming the Victorian Railways is the responsible authority.
Oh yeah, the wanker in the red and white hat/
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These fucks are all SOOOOO exhausting.
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…and people think anything can be done about anthropogenic global climate change? We can’t even get people to wear masks and take life saving vaccines. I’ve pretty much given up. We had an OK run, but let’s just run out the clock.
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god i would have loved to see a hoof-meets-face sequel to that picture
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I notice, however, that they don’t mind wearing nylon jackets and carrying umbrellas as protection against getting a bit damp while protesting about being forced to use protection to avoid passing on a deadly disease.
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I’m sorry, but Australian anti-lockdown protestors are a joke. They’re experiencing a fraction of what the literal entire rest of the world endured last year and they can’t take it.
(Obviously all anti-lockdown protestors are a joke but these ones are especially pathetic)
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So they claim they did something to make themselves look stupid to get attention? Seems redundant, since that’s exactly what they’d have been doing anyway if they’d shown up at the actual BBC without the detour.
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No, they’re wearing condoms.
I guess BBC Brexited that building.
You stop watching mainstream media for a few years and it changes its address.
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yeah but no but yeah
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The BBC does make a lot of money from BBC Worldwide, which is it’s commercial arm (eg selling Top Gear around the world), but the bulk of it’s income comes from the license fee.
The point of this is that the BBC itself is not commercial, and can make programs which no for-profit company would bother with. For example, Welsh-language programs.
I guess it’s just one of those slightly ambiguous systems that British people are mostly happy with, because they mostly work, but which seem to drive some people (coff yanks coff) up the wall.
It’s a bit like how we have a state religion which maybe 2% of the population bother turning up for.
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It is possible to opt out of the licence fee in a way that would be impossible with a general tax.
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It has its roots in the time when the TV was a luxury that only the well off could afford. When many didn’t have TVs it wasn’t fair to charge the less well off to subsidise the entertainment of the wealthy.
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Yes, but that isn’t consistent with Britain’s approach to public services such as tax payer funded health care that is free at point of use.
As other people have said, the BBC is not the mouthpiece of the government. Or, it is not supposed to be. Back in the early days of TV it was felt necessary to kickstart the television industry, but to keep the broadcasters independent of the government. So they hit on the solution that the BBC could get the licence fee, but it was the Government’s responsibility for collecting it. I could not be surprised if it costs more to collect than it is worth.
However, suppose they got a lump sum directly from government. Johnson does not think they praise him enough, and wants to cut their funding. He could flood the board with more of his cronies, and then sell it off. Well, that is happening anyway, but it would be happening faster.
I think the BBC is a good thing. We ought to have a channel that is independent but does not require advertising money and viewing figures. But no-one has come up with a good plan to fund it and preserve its independence. Which is why they cling to the batty old system.
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