NEW BBC DG ‘MUST CONSIDER ALTERNATIVE FUNDING MODELS’: Gordon Rayner (Telegraph 31/8), quoting Whitehall and ministerial sources, said that Tim Davie, the new BBC director general, had been told to come up with a ‘palatable’ replacement for the licence fee by 2027 when the current BBC Charter ran out, and also that decriminalisation of non-payment of the licence fee – …

DAVIE ‘SET TO BECOME MOST RADICAL DG SINCE DYKE’: John Arlidge (£ Sunday Times 30/8) claimed that Mr Davie was set to introduce the most radical reforms to the BBC since Greg Dyke 20 years ago.  Mr Arlidge – explaining that he had not interviewed Mr Davie – said he had pieced together his intentions by talking to ‘senior BBC …

BBC LICENCE FEE NON-PAYMENT ‘TO BE DECRIMINALISED’: Jason Groves (Daily Mail 29/8) reported that ‘Whitehall sources’ were suggesting that dodging payment of the BBC licence fee could be decriminalised from next month – with a loss of revenue of £1 billion over five years – after a poll commissioned by the newspaper had found growing public discontent with the broadcaster. …

HALL FLOATS ‘HOUSEHOLD TAX’ TO FUND BBC:   Paul Withers (Express 28/8) said that director general Tony Hall had said on the Radio 4 Media Show that progressive alternatives to the licence fee were interesting and should be examined, including a compulsory ‘household tax’ which would require richer families to pay more. Mr Withers reported that he had explained that the …

BBC LICENCE EVASION ‘TO BE DECRIMINALISED’: Guido Fawkes (27/8) noted that private members bills from MPs Peter Bone and Christoper Chope aiming to decriminalise non-payment of the BBC licence fee were due to be considered by parliament in the autumn. The article said that this would put the BBC on the same footing as any other creditor in the courts, …

BBC’S CONTEMPT FOR BREXIT ‘HAS DESTROYED CASE FOR THE LICENCE FEE’: Former editor of the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Rod Liddle (Sun 26/8), in a comment piece,  said that he would never again pay his television licence fee because the decision by the corporation to drop the sung versions of Rule, Britannia and Land Of Hope and Glory from …

BBC PROMS DECISION ‘IN BREACH OF CONTRACT WITH BRITISH PEOPLE’: Under a multiple by-line, the Daily Mail (25/8) said that the actor Laurence Fox was leading protests to defund the BBC after the Corporation had decided that the last night of the proms would be staged on September 12 with orchestral versions of Rule Britannia and Land of Hope of …

BBC ‘NEVER MORE NEEDED’, SAYS HALL: The BBC was vital to democracy and had never been more needed  to counter the spread of fake news, Tony Hall, the BBC’s outgoing director general had told the Edinburgh Festival (inews 24/8). Adam Sherwin reported that Lord Hall had also claimed in the speech that the BBC had played a crucial role in …

BBC MIGHT DROP ‘RULE BRITANNIA FROM LAST NIGHT PROM’: Faith Ridler (Mail on Sunday 23/8) said that, under pressure from 35-year-old Finnish conductor Dalia Staseveska, the BBC was considering dropping both Rule Britannia and Elgar’s Land of Hope and Glory from this year’s  last night of the proms, due to take place on September 12. Ms Ridler said that Ms …

NEWSNIGHT POLICY EDITOR LEWIS GOODALL ‘SHOULD RESIGN’: An article on Guido Fawkes (20/8) called on Lewis Goodall, the BBC2 Newsnight policy editor, to resign over an article he had written for the New Statesman magazine which, it was claimed, ‘spectacularly’ breached editorial impartiality guidelines on three grounds in that it expressed strong views,. Advocated against a single policy and exhorted …