50). With its centralizing power, the BBC has a great deal of power when dictating the expressions of British society and culture, but with this comes also the power to act as a censor. This should be considered fairly dangerous given the BBCs reputation for being an inherently British Institution. With the power to control, organize, and exclude the passage of text and image, the BBC is essentially capable of presenting a very specific view of British society. Therefore, who controls the medium, truly does control the production and distribution of truth and meaning (MacCabe, 33). In a heterogeneous society like Britain, it is difficult to see why the BBC helps perpetuate the stereotype of a largely white, homogeneous society. A popular program like East Enders hardly challenges an audience to recognize Britain as anything more than a white experience even though Britain is extremely multicultural. For those who would like something more than simply the status quo, the BBC could hardly be considered a true form of public service broadcasting. Yes, people may be educated, informed, and entertained, but in an extremely restricted manner. Each year the BBC puts out a pamphlet entitled Our Commitment to You, containing a list of promises to its audience. One of the statements is always worded, We promise to focus on our obligation to represent all groups in society accurately and to avoid reinforcing prejudice in our programs (BBC, 2). Clearly, this is extremely subjective, as it is the programmer who holds the power of determining what is an accurate representation. This capability of producing a highly selective depiction of images has to lead one to question whether or not the BBC could actually be keeping partisan material from its audience. While this is impossible to determine, it is interesting to note that the archives are extremely difficult to penetrate (MacCabe, 33).This dangerous political factor in preserving a s...
