The BBC prepares to do royal charter battle with the politicians. It’s James Purnell (director of strategy and digital) versus John Whittingdale; one past secretary of state for culture versus the incumbent. But beware of making this too much like broadcasting’s House of Cards. Isn’t this sudden £150m funding gap in an underperforming licence fee – hundreds of jobs doomed in a “simpler, leaner world” – just a bit convenient? If the fee can be rendered frail by too many playback devices, should we really want to play it again? There are difficult choices here. But the best way to make them, surely, depends on trustworthy arguments. The more charter renewal looks like a game of smoke, mirrors and confected pain, the more trust suffers. Best not to get your pre-emptive decapitation in first.
■ The issue isn’t whether al-Dawla al-Islamiya fil Iraq wa’al Sham (aka Daesh) is a better name than Islamic State or, alternatively, an affront to BBC standards of fairness and balance. The issue is simple audience comprehension. We know what Islamic State does. Nothing is gained by a confusing acronymic adjustment mid-stream. If you want that, why not just settle for David Cameron’s own modest contribution and call them a “poisonous death cult”?
