Why do people want to “Defund the BBC?”

This appeared in The Millennial Source

Organizers and backers of the self-proclaimed “grassroots” effort point to an alleged “far-left” bias in the BBC’s broadcasting, with “Defund the BBC” mirroring calls in the United States to “Defund the police” in the wake of police brutality claims.

Calls to “ defund the BBC,” the United Kingdom’s public service broadcaster, have escalated throughout 2020 as organizers of a social media campaign have called on the British public to stop paying their television license fee — the yearly fee that funds the BBC.

2020 has proved a difficult year in many respects for the BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation. The coronavirus pandemic has forced media companies to be increasingly frugal with their limited funds and the BBC itself is currently facing political pressure from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government, which is reportedly in favor of scrapping license fee payments. The arrival of a new director general at the BBC could signal significant changes for the corporation.

The campaign to “Defund the BBC,” however, is not solely concerned with license fees.

Organizers and backers of the self-proclaimed “grassroots” effort point to an alleged “far-left” bias in the BBC’s broadcasting, with “Defund the BBC” mirroring calls in the United States to “ Defund the police “ in the wake of police brutality claims.

Despite its critics, public trust in the BBC and of its coverage of the coronavirus pandemic remains higher than its competitors, suggesting that the “grassroots” effort to upend the BBC remains very much a fringe movement.

“Defund the BBC”

In the UK, watching or recording live television broadcasts requires the payment of a TV license fee that adds up to around US$200 a year. This license fee is predominantly used to fund the content services of the BBC, the UK’s public service broadcaster.

The license fee has always carried an air of controversy, particularly over its enforcement. Unannounced visits to homes suspected of not paying the license and vehicles with technology allegedly capable of detecting television broadcasts have all been used as a means to make sure the public is complying with the…