This final question of the survey is where you Urban Lifers have a chance to let off steam and 'rant' about something or someone that's been annoying you recently. July rant topic was The BBC.
However, for many of you this was a rant too far!! 52% said you had absolutely nothing to rant about on this topic, and a further 1% said you worked for the BBC and so could not comment! (48 members).
However, a number of common themes emerged from the rants:
THE LICENCE FEE
"Absolutely resent paying the licence fee - it is a tax which you have no option but to pay, you can't even vote them out. The programming gets worse and worse each year"
"Bloody TV licence. They put posters up on the tube saying 'there are two houses in this road that don"t have a TV licence'. Well go the fuck round there and arrest them then, don't waste your time and OUR money putting up posters!"
"Damn right I resent my licence fee. Nobody forces you to buy a newspaper, you buy the one that matches your politics. I'm forced to support the left-wing bias that comes out of the BBC or else pay a whopping fine or go to prison. Grrrrr!!"
PROGRAMMING
"Please get rid of Eastenders. There is enough real misery in the world without doing soaps about it. Yes, it might cover sensitive issues, but these could be covered in one-off or even a series of dramas, so it's still likely to appeal to the audience. The stories are just so tired and I'm sure it's contributed to current bad language, bad fashion and bad manners - viewers seem to think that the people in it are "Stars" and should be taken as role models. Other soaps are just as bad. At least the Aussie soaps don't always come across as grey"
"BBC - please justify your obsession with Only Fools and Horses!! How many times will you shove this over-rated "comedy" down our throats? I can imagine the conversation at BBC HQ, 'Hmm, we've got another five hours free on Saturday night - haven't seen Del-boy falling through a bar for a few weeks, I think we can get away with it"
THE MANAGEMENT
"The BBC is a self-serving dinosaur with a vastly inflated sense of its own importance. It pays idiot presenters like the tart off news in the mornings £500k to sit there pouting as if she has a clue about the issues they discuss. All news is presented in a left-wing manner and dumbing-down has reached new heights. The whole damn thing should be privatised as soon as possible and most of the gravy train free-riders given their P45s"
"A friend of mine worked for them and they sounded like the most inefficient resource-wasting and antiquated organisation - an empire that seems to do very little in promoting and encouraging individuals or indeed the work ethic - it's simply to big to be efficient"
But overall this rant was a rant too far for most, who said they loved the BBC and thought it was great. How dare we invite criticism for this British institution!
"Actually, if you go travelling you'll come to realise the BBC is one of the greatest things we have left in the UK"
"I think the BBC is one of the most important cultural institutions in the world and is worth every penny we pay in the license fee. People should stop moaning and support the BBC as it is the envy of the world and stands in opposition to the rising tide of commercially interested media organisations. The international services alone are worth the money - in many countries, including the USA it is the only access to unbiased news that people have. The constant sniping about the future of the BBC is created and stoked by companies who are responsible for the dumbing-down of the media, they wish us to drown in news about vacuous celebrities so that we don't ask questions about third world debt, the environment and the misadventures happening in Iraq and Afganistan. All in all, I say support the BBC because if we lose it, it will be too late and then we are will be at the mercy of Rupert Murdoch, Disney, Microsoft, Bush and Blair"
"BBC Rules. There is no rant. The institution remains. Long live the BBC"
