Robin Aitken, a former top journalist at the BBC, believes the time has come to end the license fee for the public broadcaster. During an interview on NTDās āBritish Thought Leadersā programme, Aitken, who spent 25 years at the BBC, criticized the broadcaster’s lack of impartiality and urged it to stop relying on public funds. He has noted that the BBC’s internal culture is “very coercive” and the lack of real diversity in its staff members contributes to a biased perspective, leading to the endorsement of certain groups and discourses that do not align with a Western way of life.
Mr. Aitken highlighted the BBC’s unconditional support of groups like Black Lives Matter (BLM) in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, without investigating BLMās āantecedents and real motivesā as a Marxist organization. Furthermore, he pointed out the broadcaster’s failure to label Hamas as a terrorist group after the killing of Israeli civilians, and its tendency to side with groups opposed to the Western way of life. Aitken believes the BBC should move away from its superficial approach to diversity and focus on real diversity, in terms of political and moral outlook.
He also expressed dissatisfaction with the BBC’s failure to represent the views of the working class and what he perceives as a naive and callow approach taken by its younger staff. While acknowledging the potential of a public service broadcasting company that is impartial and truthful, Aitken is skeptical of the BBC’s ability to achieve real reform, and has contemplated a future without the license fee. While he appreciates the ideal of the BBC as an impartial and honest broadcaster, he believes that it falls short and therefore the time has come to say goodbye to the license fee.