United Kingdom VII: Taking Pride in Your Success

[Cassius_Smoke]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-world-leaders
Senior international politicians call for a global treaty on forming a universal response effort for the inevitability of the next pandemic

Definitely needed. A NATO, but for pandemics.

[wakka]

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/mar/29/bbc-four-to-become-archive-only-as-cost-cutting-drive-continues

News like this makes me think the folks who'd like to see the BBC dismantled are getting their wish, one cut at a time.

[Neon Ignition]

Makes sense, I'd scrap it as an archive channel too and block BBC3's revival as well. Both were/are always redundant offerings with no real worthwhile audience. No need to really stop making the content, just cease putting it on surplus services almost no-one watches.

[MartyG]

That's exactly what I was talking about earlier - losing the unique content. BBC Four produces some of the more niche and excellent documentary stuff, especially around music and film media (Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, The Story of Musicals, Life of Ice, Timeshift for example) - this is stuff that will never see the light of day on BBC1, even BBC2 is stretch for most of them.

The "no worthwhile audience" thinking is exactly why you're going to end up with cookie cutter, lowest denominator programming.

[wakka]

Yeah, I mean a channel is just a way of accessing content. It has no value per se. But I think the point here is that they are stopping making the content.

[Neon Ignition]

That's why they need to be savvier. Ultimately, there's either an audience for the content or not. It could be that BBC4 is just a poor method of delivering the content, could be there's no audience to be had. Niche or not I doubt many would support paying for content no-one watches.

The publics need for the BBC grows less with each passing year and generation, but regardless really of the discussion the license fees end is a case of when not if so it comes back around to them needing to plan ahead now not later.

[Dogg Thang]

Ultimately, there's either an audience for the content or not.

Unless there is literally not one person watching, then there is an audience. This is exactly why it's a public service. Just like a public owned bus company that can serve routes with fewer people that a commercial transport company would cut, leaving those people with nothing, the BBC can serve limited audiences. That doesn't mean they are unworthy of that programming.

[Asura]

Unless there is literally not one person watching, then there is an audience. This is exactly why it's a public service. Just like a public owned bus company that can serve routes with fewer people that a commercial transport company would cut, leaving those people with nothing, the BBC can serve limited audiences. That doesn't mean they are unworthy of that programming.

That's the point, right? The BBC can make shows because we, as a society, want them to exist. Not necessarily driven by the number of people who will watch them.

Anyone who wants the BBC to be defunded must absolutely love UK trains.

[Neon Ignition]

Don't get me wrong, I don't fret that I pay the license, it's more a case of seeing the BBC's argument for keeping the fee as increasingly tenuous. Defunding the BBC isn't anywhere near the same league as defunding nearly any other public service which is why it skirts the issue so regularly. It'll absolutely happen within our lifetimes if not a fraction of that.

[Lebowski]

That's exactly what I was talking about earlier - losing the unique content. BBC Four produces some of the more niche and excellent documentary stuff, especially around music and film media (Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, The Story of Musicals, Life of Ice, Timeshift for example) - this is stuff that will never see the light of day on BBC1, even BBC2 is stretch for most of them.

The "no worthwhile audience" thinking is exactly why you're going to end up with cookie cutter, lowest denominator programming.

I agree this is the wrong way round they really they need their original programming as when this goes what do we have left? homes under the hammer and strictly come dancing?

could be a calculated move though to make the licence fee obsolete

[briareos_kerensky]

Definitely needed. A NATO, but for pandemics.

Like a world(wide) health organization? Why haven't we thought about it before!

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2021/mar/31/no-evidence-britain-institutionally-racist-government-commission-covid-coronavirus-boris-johnson-live-updates

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/31/uk-an-exemplar-of-racial-equality-no-10s-race-commission-concludes

How lucky are minorities to live in the UK?

So, turns out that institutional racism in the UK doesn't exit. We should all be holding up the UK as a beacon of racial equality. Young Black Lives Matters campaigners are actually holding back the cause as they're too idealistic. Racism is apparently just often a case of victimhood too. Ethnic minorities are also apparently actually doing better than white citizens in many aspects of life.

Totally unrelated but the UK Government has also rejected universally liked cross-party supported support for mandating companies release ethnic pay gap information. They also had interviews relating to the ethnicity report conducted before the report itself was released making any real questioning impossible.

So, we can all rest easy that we live in a clearly Woke Wonderland

[Hirst]

Oh good, I'll remember that the next time bus loads of the EDL turn up in Dewsbury town centre to cause bother.

[Lebowski]

Apparently the lock-down is, over park was destroyed this morning rubbish everywhere disposable barbecues and empty's as far as the eye could see. River was full too with kids and teens , sadly a teenager died in the river yesterday, theirs a waterfall nearby that kids like to jump off, a kid got pinned under waterfall and it took divers 5 hours to recover his body.

I full on felt really ill when hearing about this as i found out after the fact that my son and his friends had been doing this last year during the summer and had been their on multiple occasions.

[Hirst]

Yeah I'm in the office today and town looked more-or-less like an ordinary day (bar the closed shops). Even the usual dossers are back, there was a shirtless guy spreadeagled on the pavement with an empty bottle of vodka, two losers having a turf war over who gets to sit outside Subway. It hasn't been worth their while coming out to beg usually as not enough footfall, but today just felt like an ordinary summer day.