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Article: BBC approves 'dumbing down' at expense of current affairs

Article from:
The Sunday Telegraph London
Article date:
April 1, 2007
Author:
Copyright

LORD REITH said its mission was to "inform, educate and entertain''. Those who have succeeded the BBC's founding father, however, appear intent on concentrating solely on entertainment, in a shameless pursuit of ratings success.

Senior BBC bosses think that their current affairs programmes, including the award-winning Panorama, are too dull and serious. Instead, they want less serious shows which, they believe, will appeal to younger viewers.

The drive towards entertainment is borne out by figures showing that current affairs output has fallen to its lowest peak-time level in more than half a century.

Critical of the corporation's current affairs staff for producing programmes that are ...

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