Some called it a "mortal blow". Others, a long-overdue reckoning for the "Fox News of the Left". Britain was divided yesterday over government plans to axe the licence feeA fixed annual sum paid by each household for a television licence, which allows them to watch live programming on TV and catch up with programming on BBC iPlayer. Some have criticised it as a kind of flat tax., which has been used to fund the BBC since 1946.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced that the fee will be frozen for the next two years. There will be discussions to replace it in 2027. This calls the future of the BBC as a state-funded broadcaster into question.

Critics say the BBC is a relic of a bygone era. When it was founded as a radio station in the 1920s, it was normal for governments to have a monopoly on broadcasting. Only in the USA were the early stations privately owned.

But today, state-owned media companies are largely linked with autocratic governments that use them to spread misinformation. They play a key role in the rule of Vladimir Putin. He uses Russian media to support nationalism and damage his critics.

In contrast, the BBC is not state-controlled. It is run by a board of governors. In theory, it is totally independent of the state. 

But some of those board members are appointed by the government. This means it can place its allies at the very heart of the BBC. Last year ministers caused outrage when they appointed Robbie GibbA former BBC journalist who left the broadcaster to become Director of Communications in 10 Downing Street in 2017, before returning to sit on its board., a former Conservative advisor, to the board. Gibb later tried to block the hiring of Jess Brammar, a journalist who has supported the Black Lives Matter movement.

And the government can exercise more informal pressure on BBC decisions and output. The BBC knows ministers have the power to cut its funding - or even to abolish it altogether. So there is always an incentive to appease it.

Some have suggested that the decision to appoint Tim Davie as its director-generalThe chief executive and editor-in-chief of the BBC. There have been 19 director-generals. The incumbent is Tim Davie, appointed in 2020. in 2020 was partly motivated by this power dynamic. Davie had previously said that he wanted BBC comedy programmes to spend less time attacking the Conservatives.

But others think we should count our blessings. They say the alternative to the BBC is an American-style free-for-all. In the USA, they argue, broadcasters have realised that the most effective way of maintaining their audiences is to keep them in a constant state of outrage. The result is that media outlets have become extremely polarised.

In contrast, GB NewsA TV and radio station in the UK, launched in 2021. Originally intended to be a right-leaning channel that would favour diversity of opinion above all else, critics allege that it has swung much further to the right in recent months., which has been seen as the UK's version of Fox NewsAmerica's biggest cable news channel, with an average total prime time audience of 2.6 million viewers. It is generally believed to have a strong right-wing bias., has struggled to gain traction. Supporters of the BBC claim this is because people trust the state broadcaster. 

That trust goes well beyond the UK. The BBC is one of the planet's most trusted brands. People around the globe listen to the World ServiceAn international broadcaster aimed at bringing news to foreign audiences. It is owned and operated by the BBC with additional funding from the UK government. and tell BBC journalists their stories.

Yes: Government funding gives the BBC a global reach and name recognition it could never hope for as a private company. And despite pressure, the BBC has largely maintained its independence.

No: States are automatically hostile to scrutiny. Journalism must always be independent of the government.

Or... Many countries have broadcasters that are state-owned but funded by advertising. Channel 4 already works like this. It allows them to keep their independence but without sliding into polarisation.