In the edition of 28 June of the SNJ, there were two letters that I shall address in this letter.

Kevin Towell asserted that the BBC was a state propaganda organ, but presented negligible evidence to support this. This comment seems to be no more than opinion. I have no idea what part of the BBC’s output he considers to be state propaganda, but I doubt if it includes programmes like The News Quiz, Dead Ringers or The News Quiz, in which politicians of all parties, particularly the government ones, are frequently lampooned or More or Less, which has often forensically illustrated failings in Government claims. I know from my own experience that my few contributions to Farming Today, that nothing I said was censored. I was not paid anything for those contributions. The recording of Any Questions (in which politicians are asked questions from the audience) that I attended was broadcast verbatim.

The BBC’s Charter can be accessed here https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/governance/regulatory_framework/charter_agreement.html and Kevin Towell should identify which parts have been broken and how the BBC is a state propaganda organ.

Richard House asserted that the use of conspiracy theory was used to try and “stop people thinking critically for themselves”. I counter that with the observation that the awful Trumpian “lock her up” chants during the presidential election against Hilary Clinton resulted from conspiracy theories that were believed in, sadly, many by thousands (e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_body_count_conspiracy_theory). Innovative thinking, free of conspiracy theories, can be heard on the BBC in programmes like The Essay and Freethinking on R3 or Four Thought on R4. Outside the BBC, the TED talks provide a stimulating platform https://www.ted.com/talks. I always taught my MSc students to think critically, especially when evaluating of information from the internet.

The best analysis of conspiracy theories that I know was on the BBC’s Infinite Monkey Cage (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000dfqn). I commend this to all SNJ readers. I suspect that some will not listen in case it undermines their world outlook.

Yours sincerely

Dr Adrian Williams

Amberley