評論
打印
Britain
英國板塊
The BBC
英國廣播電臺
A colossus quietly crumbles
龐然大物的悄然坍塌
The corporation can cope with a hostile government and angry royals, but not with Mickey Mouse
BBC上能處理敵對政府，下能安撫憤怒的皇室成員，卻斗不過米老鼠。
Relations between the British Broadcasting Corporation and the government have always been delicate. Stanley Baldwin bridled at the BBC’s coverage of the General Strike of 1926. Margaret Thatcher was infuriated by its reporting from the Falklands. Hugh Carleton Greene, the corporation’s boss in the 1960s, confessed that, when dealing with Harold Wilson’s government, “I found my experience as head of psychological warfare in Malaya in 1947 extremely useful.”
英國廣播公司和政府之間的關系一直很微妙。BBC對1926年大罷工的報道讓斯坦利·鮑德溫十分惱怒。BBC對福克蘭群島的報道讓瑪格麗特·撒切爾怒不可遏。20世紀60年代，BBC的老板休·卡爾頓·格林坦言，在與哈羅德·威爾遜政府打交道時，“我發現自己1947年在馬來亞擔任心理戰負責人的經歷非常有用。”
The latest spat pits the BBC against not just Downing Street but the royal family, as well as many viewers. An independent inquiry released on May 20th found that one of its most famous scoops, an interview in 1995 in which Princess Diana claimed that “there were three of us in this marriage”, was secured partly by deception. Martin Bashir, the interviewer, forged documents to persuade the princess that she was being spied on. A BBC probe at the time led by Tony Hall, who later became director-general, covered it up.
最新的口水戰讓BBC的對立方不僅有唐寧街，甚至還有英國王室以及眾多觀眾。5月20日公布的一項獨立調查發現，其最著名的獨家新聞之一，即1995年戴安娜王妃聲稱“我們婚姻里有三個人”的采訪，部分是通過欺騙獲得的。采訪者馬丁·巴希爾偽造文件，讓王妃相信自己被監視。當時由托尼·霍爾領導的BBC調查對此事進行了掩蓋，霍爾后來成了BBC總裁。
The BBC promises a review of its editorial practices and another report into its dealings with Mr Bashir, who left the corporation earlier this month citing ill-health. Two former executives, including Lord Hall, have quit their new jobs. Prince William declared the revelations proof that the interview “established a false narrative” about his mother. The government is drawing broader lessons. Oliver Dowden, the culture secretary, wrote in the Rupert Murdoch-owned Times newspaper that the BBC needed “a new emphasis on accuracy, impartiality and diversity of opinion”. To avoid “groupthink”, he said, “cultural change must be a focus”.
BBC承諾將對其編輯行為進行審查，并承諾將提交另一份報告說明對巴希爾的處理情況。巴希爾本月早些時候以健康不佳為由離開了該公司。包括霍爾勛爵在內的兩位前高管已經辭去了新工作。威廉王子宣稱，這些披露證明采訪“構建了關于他母親的虛假敘述”。英國政府正在吸取更廣泛的教訓。英國文化大臣奧利弗·道登在魯珀特·默多克名下的《泰晤士報》上撰文稱，BBC需要“重新強調觀點的準確性、公正性和多樣性”。他說，為了避免“從眾思維，文化變革必須成為重點”。
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