Licensing for UK Television

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Originally Posted by andy

I hear your concern, but it doesn't seem to be a problem in practice. They are frequently very critical of their own government. Between the BBC news, the commercial networks, satellite, and the papers, not much is kept secret. If anything, the BBC news is far more objective and substantive than the infotainment that passes for TV news here in the US. The UK's newspapers tend to me more like the US news channels though.

I don't know the details of how the funding works, but if anything like you suggest was happening, it would be BIG news, and the BBC would be murdered by the other news outlets. The US isn't the only country with free speech!

The BBC is not critical of the government is cant be. This is not a political rant but the TRUTH. Margaret Thatcher made it illegal to broadcast what any politician had said on the broadcasting network in the past. Why, because her government at the time were lying about what certain politicians had said, also some of them were denying what they had said until it was broadcast and they were then in the mire. So much for freedom of speech.
It would probably be the same everywhere but here there is the official secrets act which the BBC, ITV has to follow. I know of certain (and many other local people do) things that went on here that wasn't broadcast because of the government's intervention e.g. the miners strike.
Like I said earlier the BBCs days are numbered.