BBC, a Target of Conservatives, Faces a Review of Its Mission

The Conservative government in Britain has set its sights on remaking the BBC, the broadcaster supported by a national license fee, after a political campaign in which the Conservatives complained that the BBC’s news coverage has a left-wing bias. The UK’s secretary of state for culture, media and sport, John Whittingdale, presented a “green paper” to Parliament, the opening of a comprehensive study of the BBC’s future, suggesting that the corporation could become smaller, less costly and less competitive with British newspapers and private television channels.

The BBC, which is currently financed by an annual payment of 145.50 pounds, or $227.50, from nearly every household that owns a color television or that can watch television in real time, is up for its 10-year charter review in 2016. Whittingdale, a known critic of the corporation, said he wanted to examine the nature, funding, reach and governance of the corporation, considered one of the finest, if not necessarily the most efficient, broadcasting networks in the world.