Word: bbc
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Americans are used to political programming served up with more than a dash of fire breathing, but in Britain, television and partisanship don't mix. A few Bill O'Reilly lites and Stephen Colbert wannabes occupy late-night slots on the BBC and the country's commercial networks, but their employers are quick to rein them in if they stray too far from properly milquetoast commentary. That's in part to avoid censure from Ofcom, the independent regulator charged with ensuring that on-air political programming stays ideology free...
...course, that's still a small fraction of the number of Britons who get their politics from the BBC. (On average, nearly 1 million viewers watch Newsnight, BBC TV's flagship late-evening current-affairs program). Doughty Street isn't ready to challenge the Beeb just yet--it's still living off $2 million donated by one of its directors--but it has grabbed the attention of the country's hoary media establishment...
Richard Sambrook, director of the BBC's global-news division, says the Internet channel "is forcing mainstream broadcasters to think what we can provide that they can't and to focus on our core values of objectivity and impartiality." That riles the denizens of Doughty Street, who claim the BBC has a liberal bias and are soliciting ideas for a campaign to stop the Beeb's taxpayer-funded subsidy. Not that Doughty Street is opposed to bias. "Do you know the problem with balance?" asks Dale. "It's boring." Quite a few Britons are starting to agree...
...opted for a half-elected, half-appointed Lords. But he was out of step with many in his own party and in the opposition, who banded together to deliver a majority of 113 in favor of an all-elected upper chamber. Straw hailed the "historic step forward," telling the BBC: "The message was a very decisive and clear one in favor of reform of the existing House of Lords." Long before that reform is agreed and implemented, the cash-for-honors inquiry will run its course. Scotland Yard is expected to conclude its investigation within weeks. But whatever the outcome...
...reaction has been mixed. Corbin and King are known for their clubby interiors and Nanny-knows-best comfort dishes. Yet St Alban, housed in a former BBC radio studio, features jet-set banquettes with turquoise and amethyst upholstery in a vast, brightly lit space reminiscent of an airline lounge. The food is a Mediterranean mélange of influences stretching from Venice to Lisbon, under the command of Southern Italian chef Francesco Mazzei...