Save the BBC!!

[mbc]

Dear friends,

The BBC is considering sweeping cuts, cutting its website in half and dropping TV and radio stations. The reason: to enrich corporate media in the UK.

The BBC is a global treasure. People in every country rely on its website, radio, and TV programmes for news and entertainment not driven by the profit motive that has degraded so many media outlets. But according to a story in the Times in the UK, some in the BBC are now worried that they're competing too effectively, and want to "shrink" in order to "appease the BBC's rivals."

If this goes forward, it's a giveaway to the likes of Rupert Murdoch, who sees the BBC as a threat to his profits. Let's stop these cuts before they happen -- public outcry has prevented BBC cuts before, and we can do it again. Sign the petition and pass it along -- let's make sure the Beeb knows the UK, and the world, want it to stand strong:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bbc_global/?vl

The cuts are proposed in a "strategic review" written by John Tate -- co-author of the Conservative Party's manifesto, and now a BBC executive. The cuts are proposed under the guise of focusing on quality, rather than quantity. But if the goal is to reduce competition to corporate media outfits, this may just be the beginning.

Murdoch -- the media magnate -- has long seen the BBC as his biggest rival, and his media outlets have assaulted the Labor government. Now, with the recession hurting profits and a UK election coming soon, he and his allies are on the attack. Let's raise our voices now to protect the BBC:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bbc_global/?vl

With hope,

Ricken, Paul, Alice, Ben, Iain, Luis, and the whole Avaaz team