Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman has been giving his views on the current state of Television whilst in Edinburgh and a battle royal between the Today programme’s John Humphrys and Paxo has ensued as he is forced to account for his own views as he dares to question the current direction of the industry. He asks as to how can the BBC be making so many cutbacks with a £3.5 billion revenue and (oddly) questioning the license fee itself when he said:
“The idea of a tax on the ownership of television belongs in the 1950s. Why not tax people for owning a washing machine to fund the manufacture of Persil?”
In his talk aimed at the medium he works in he also asks:
“Is there something rotten in the state of television, some systemic sickness that renders it inherently dishonest but the question behind that question is simply…what is television for?”
Hear some of Humphreys vs Paxman here (ability to play real audio required)
Photo original by willismonroe under this creative commons license.
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