Balance at the BBC

SIR – Thank goodness that in his White Paper, John Whittingdale, the Culture Secretary, has had the mettle to address that pernicious enabler of BBC bias – self-regulation (report, May 12).

The current rules mean that all complaints of bias have been dealt with exclusively by the BBC, acting as judge and jury on itself. As a result, the BBC has always been able to boast an unblemished record, having never once in its 94-year history judged itself to have made an error of impartiality.

This unchecked partisanship by a media organisation more powerful than all the others combined has been deeply corrosive to the balance of British democracy, and its end can’t come soon enough. Martin Burgess Beckenham, Kent SIR – My parents were Polish immigrants who moved to England because of the war. From a young age I had possession of a radio, which meant listening to the BBC. During this time the corporation’s output included Shakespeare, chess, philosophy, politics, Test match cricket and much more. The BBC shaped my interest and views; I was turned into an Englishman.

However, much of the BBC’s output is now trivial and does nothing to uphold its original principles. I am unsure what sort of Englishman would emerge as a result of a diet of BBC radio and television today.

A return to an impartial and informative BBC would be welcome. Henry Maj Armitage, Staffordshire