Theguardian iconTheguardianSep 15, 2026 ~1 min source read

Don’t decide the BBC’s fate behind closed doors | Letter

This is too important an issue and the BBC is too important an institution for this to be decided behind the closed doors of Whitehall. Many things have been altered radically by the recent drastic changes in communications technology, but others still have a very familiar feel to them.

Don’t decide the BBC’s fate behind closed doors | Letter

Share this story

Send the public story page.

Useful takeaways from this story.

This is too important an issue and the BBC is too important an institution for this to be decided behind the closed doors of Whitehall.

Many things have been altered radically by the recent drastic changes in communications technology, but others still have a very familiar feel to them.

Chief among these is the extent to which the BBC should eschew ratings and stick only to the cultural Olympian heights.

Building the complete brief

The page is ready to read now. The fuller skim-friendly version will appear here automatically.

The useful part

This is too important an issue and the BBC is too important an institution for this to be decided behind the closed doors of Whitehall. Many things have been altered radically by the recent drastic changes in communications technology, but others still have a very familiar feel to them. Chief among these is the extent to which the BBC should eschew ratings and stick only to the cultural Olympian heights.

How it works

  • This dilemma was best summed up by the BBC's former director of programmes, Huw Wheldon, when he said that it was the job of the BBC "to make the popular good and make the good popular".
  • Phil Harding Former editor, Today programme, and former controller of BBC editorial policy Continue reading...

Keep reading in the app

Open the app view to save this story, compare related coverage, and continue from the same source.

Open in app