IN A week when the BBC spent a great deal of time talking about itself, The Media Show (Radio 4, Wednesday) was essential listening precisely because it is made by insiders for insiders. Such is the present fear-filled directionlessness at the Corporation that Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins failed to get any BBC executive to appear on a BBC programme.
Despite the identification of “institutional group think” as a persistent BBC flaw, one of the programme’s panellists was Jamie Angus, a former Today and Newsnight editor turned director of the hawkish think tank the Henry Jackson Society, which might indicate that this bewilderingly complex institution isn’t quite the woke monoculture that its detractors claim that it is. Another contributor was the favourite Reformite of both the BBC and the C of E, Tim Montgomerie, who could become a pivotally important figure should the Establishment, after the next General Election, find itself dealing with a government of which it thoroughly disapproves.
A conventionally progressive perspective was provided by the renowned magazine editor Tina Brown, who implied that the scandal was essentially a construct by The Daily Telegraph before she went on to suggest that it was a super time for the BBC to launch a domestic news service in the United States.
Not that the BBC is or should be solely about people in the UK. At the end of the show, Mr Angus reminded listeners of the importance of the World Service, which broadcasts in 42 languages and is particularly significant in the Arab world.
The Media Show showcases one of the BBC’s real gifts: its capacity to produce high-quality programmes for specialist audiences. Sunday (Radio 4), which is de facto the magazine show for religious professionals, is another such exemplar.
In this week’s edition, the BBC’s Hong Kong correspondent, Danny Vincent, who clearly has a particular interest in Christian-related stories, reported on Beijing crackdown — said to be the most widespread anti-church crackdown by the People’s Republic in decades — on the Zion Church network.
Anna Liu, the wife of the Church’s imprisoned founding pastor, Jin Mingri, said that it was the growth of online worship which had particularly spooked authorities. The Chinese-American pastor Bob Fu said that the spiritual emptiness of contemporary China’s ultra-materialistic culture was driving conversion to Christianity, especially through underground house churches in the cities.
It is impossible to assess accurately exactly how much the Church has grown in China in recent decades, but governments generally don’t crack down on groups unless they are in healthy enough shape to worry them.
It’s easy to forget Bells on Sunday (Radio 4), because its weekly programmes are always variations on a theme. This week’s recording came from perhaps the most famous ring of church bells in the world — those of St Mary-le-Bow, providing a fine excuse to plug these two-minute capsules of auditory delight.