If the BBC had spent more time reporting facts rather than seeking balance, it might not be where it is now: attacked by Trump, by far right politicians, by the media conglomerates that back them, and adrift after alienating its core audience. When you look at the chaos engulfing the BBC, do not fixate on the triggers. What is happening is a coup.
To understand it, you need to understand the hatred that right wing and far right parties have for the BBC. It is an outlet they cannot nominally control and a reminder of state capacity that they want to diminish at all costs. The BBC is a global brand, providing a vast range of information for free as a service, in a way corporate competitors, often funded by the same interests attacking it, cannot match.
Why is this a cautionary tale, and what does balance over facts have to do with it? Because no matter how much you bend the knee to people who hate you and want to destroy you, they will not drop their objective. Over the last 20 years the Overton window shifted in ways I never expected. The BBC helped. To have balance you need a centre, and the centre is defined by its extremes. As that extreme moved right, the BBC kept trying to appease its critics on the right, people who want to destroy it, while disaffecting and sometimes insulting those who defend its public charter.
The head of the BBC should have resigned, yes, but because of its coverage of the war in Palestine, where the gap between reality on the ground and the balance the BBC tried to impose was obvious. Let this be a warning to western outlets that call themselves balanced. Focus on reporting, regardless of which vested interests you harm on the way.
