Bullying The Beeb – 2

Sometimes it needs a satirist to make a straightforward and all too obvious point. And last week, at the Broadcasting Press Guild awards, creator of The Thick Of It, Armando Iannucci, did just that when discussing the BBC and the attacks on it from Murdoch Junior recently.

In a speech covered by the Guardian, but missing from other “quality” papers’ websites (although the Independent managed a photo), Iannucci said of the Beeb: “My only wish is that whenever it is accused of something, even if it's something it hadn't done, I wish it wouldn't go to the first police station and hand itself in”.

And, as if that wasn’t a strong enough hint to DG Mark Thompson and the BBC Trust, he suggested that “Surely at the end of the day with all its skill and expertise and all the talent behind it and loyal following, it could find someone to articulately tell James Murdoch to f*** off”.

In other words, the BBC should display a little more cojones in its dealings with Murdoch the Interfering Foreigner, and cease beating itself up.