Mitch Benn has recorded a song in support of the beleaguered BBC. This, I think, is a good thing. A creative endeavour to bring attention to the plight of a creative institution. Leaving aside the doubt I have over where the proceeds are going to, once any costs have been paid for, (I can’t imagine that said costs won’t be met, and what’s left over, y’know actually, I don’t really care who gets it) because any extra money can’t go to Aunty Beeb, because she isn’t a charity, however much some of her supporters seem to cherish the idea of her perched on some hallowed moral pedestal.

It’s far more than that; a charity covers specifics, it attends to things that society can’t, on a municipal basis or because it is governmental policy to leave a thing unattended to. The BBC is bigger than any charity and embedded much deeper into our society than any. It is what we say to each other. It is our voice.

That’s a voice which is heard separately from, and sometimes in polar opposition to the politics of the day, and, more importantly, from the larger effects of capitalism, because the BBC doesn’t allow large corporations to dictate to it via advertising or sponsorship. In this late capitalist world that’s an amazing freedom.

Instead, it works under a remit to serve the televisual needs of the UK (which is a complex task because it is both broad and specific). Beyond making sure that it fits that remit, the government is supposed to have no other influence. The BBC survives by dint of being able to satisfy that remit and by being popular with us. So, twice over, it is our voice. It really is as simple as that, and it is integral to how democracy works in the UK. Any dilution of it in favour of corporate communication businesses should therefore be resisted.

So I shall be buying that song as soon as I work out how to.

Blimey. I apologise for writing this blog in Rantish. Deep sigh, (it's out there now) and time for sleep.