Auntie's Makeover. Tom Leonard analyses the changes that are going on- some cosmetic and some less so, but for me two things stand out:

Greg Dyke's attitude is still a guiding spirit. Most BBC people undoubtedly hold that he was unfairly tipped out by Hutton. In recent remarks Leonard quotes Dyke saying "I am worried because the vultures are circling... led by the greatest vulture of all, the Murdoch organisation, which today has more political power in this country than one could ever have imagined a single commercial organisation could achieve."

This is inspired by Dyke's fundamental rabid mistrust of capitalism and deification of Public Broadcasting. There are millions of people in this country who will never have seen a single minute of Sky's broadcasting. Millions more who do not read Murdoch's publications. If Dyke can't recognise that the BBC, not BSkyB, has had privileged access to British public opinion for an eternity, his view of Murdoch is mere red-tinted paranoia.

Secondly, being hostage to such a viewpoint the BBC becomes more socialist in mentality as their commercial rivals grow (perhaps hoping to appeal to the governing Labour party faithful). Dyke's attempts to increase the BBC's audience share were not motivated by capitalist zeal- but by the desire to prove a state-sponsored media 'up to the job'. Now, in overhauling what they term the 'Purpose of the BBC', they have concocted an radical agenda to
' "underpin active and informed citizenship", "enrich the cultural life of the nation", "contribute to education for all", "help to make the UK a more inclusive society" and "support the UK's role in the world". '

This idea being pushed of media as social engineering is alarming. It's so 1984 I hardly feel I need to mention it. It's particularly the latter two statements: to make us 'more inclusive', and 'support the UK's role' which require so much interpretation and hand so much political responsibility to the BBC. Does the 'UK's role' mean the Government's chosen stance or the 'UK's ideal role as defined by the BBC'?

Good journalism is naturally inclusive, in that it doesn't exclude anything for political convenience. I don't want the UK to be 'supported' by the BBC, I want the UK to be fairly 'reported' by the BBC. In this makeover they are missing the point that decent journalism would cover all these angles without the need for a politicising wish-list.