1. Investigating the BBC

2. History BBC
• This is a brief history of the BBC which, when it was first created, was known as the British Broadcasting
Company. It was towards the end of the 1920s, after receiving the Royal Charter, that it became the British
Broadcasting Corporation.
• A broadcast licence was introduced to help the funding of the BBC in the early 1920s as the BBC was classed
as a public broadcasting organisation. The licence was originally known as a 'broadcast receiving licence',
becoming the radio licence in 1922. It was on 1 June, 1946 that the TV licence was introduced and in January
1968, as colour television started, the licence was amended to cover both black and white and colour
television. The original radio licence was abolished in 1971.

3. BBC trust
• The Trust is separate from the Executive Board which is led by the Director-General. The Executive Board is
responsible for the operational delivery of BBC services and the direction of BBC editorial and creative
output in line with the framework set by the Trust.
• Make the most creative and distinctive output;
• Innovate online to create a more personal BBC;
• Serve all audiences; and
• Improve value for money through a simpler, more efficient, and more open BBC.

4. What does the BBC do
• The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), is an organisation in the UK. It broadcasts in the United Kingdom
and other countries on television, radio and the Internet. The BBC also sells its programmes to other
broadcasting companies in the world.
• The BBC, and independent companies working for the BBC, may produce and license commercial products
and services to enhance and complement our output. However, we must never give the impression that we
are unduly promoting any commercial product on air or online. Any references to BBC-related products
must be for clear editorial reasons and there should be no element of plugging.

5. BBC funding

6. BBC public service remit
• 1. Sustaining citizenship and civil society
• 2. Promoting education and learning
• 3. Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence
• 4. Representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities
• 5. Bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK
• 6. In promoting its other purposes, helping to deliver to the public the benefit of emerging communications
technologies and services and, in addition, taking a leading role in the switchover to digital television.

7. What do people think about the BBC and its importance
• “I don’t watch that much BBC, but they don’t seem particularly terrible compared to most other
mainstream media. But If the BBC is your only news source you’re still going to be getting your
news from only one perspective.”
• “The BBC operates at the minimum level of a college sophomore and at most much higher. CNN
presumes the idiocy of its audience and deliberately insults their intelligence”.
• “The BBC is reliable because it makes its biases obvious and is consistent. The American version is
degraded to adjust to the rest of US mainstream style, including ads”.
• “There is, however, no reason to suspect that the BBC is in any way more of less biased than any
other large news organisation. They are definitely much less biased than some famous names but
they are not perfect either”.

8. should we continue pay the BBC license fee
• “The purpose of the world service is to educate and inform the world. It was once paid for by the
Foreign Office because it was essentially seen like foreign aid or a diplomatic tool”.
“These days the government has asked the BBC to deduct the cost from the licence fee. That is
really just about shifting the cost burden to licence payers instead of from general taxation”.
• “Yes. The World Service plays a valuable role in British soft power and increasing our standing
abroad. It is right that central government shoulders some of the burden”.
“All the arguments against it come from people who just hate the BBC and want to see it nickel
and dimed to death (see also: free TV licenses for pensioners coming out of the license fee
revenue when previously they came from central government). We see these transparent attacks
on the BBC, one of Britain's great institutions, for what they are”.