Political Opinion with Alison Bennett MP: Why our broadcasters and local press still matter

I love the BBC. I loved ‘Celebrity Traitors’ a couple of weeks ago. I love how its coverage of big sporting events like Wimbledon brings the country together. Radio 4 on a Sunday morning brings back memories of my childhood - with 'The Archers’ theme tune accompanying the smell of a roast lunch wafting up the stairs, and its news coverage has for many decades been the steady, reliable beat that I have always - and I still do - trust.

I want to see the BBC endure and I want to see it flourish.

Over the last couple of weeks, instead of making the news, the BBC has been at the centre of its own controversy. The organisation has admitted and apologised for misleadingly editing President Trump’s speech on 6th January 2021. This was a grave error, and it is right that that the BBC has accepted responsibility.

However, as one of our country’s most trusted sources of news, this error should never have happened in the first place. The BBC must hold itself to the highest standards.

However, President Trump’s threat to sue the BBC is less about righting a wrong, and more about undermining people’s trust in reputable sources of information. It would be totally unacceptable for a single pound of British TV license fee payers’ money to go towards lining the pockets of President Trump.

British journalism is something we should be proud of nationally and locally. I value our press, and this is one of the reasons why I am committed to contributing to the Mid Sussex Times every week. Local journalism matters, so thank you for reading this column, and for reading our local paper whether it’s online or by buying the print edition. We must keep supporting our press and our broadcasters so that we know that quality journalism, whose role it is to scrutinise the rich and the powerful will be here for many more years to come.