Is controlled by the Peoples Liberation front. Well, i says this report in the group has destroyed roads to stop. The violence has more from private is his calling. These face off the wall, the final push. And theyre saying that the government Defense Forces are saying that to finish the wall on the mountain as the cup with the killer, they will have to use tongs and a t. V. To knock out the defense is there have been differences that the mounted on top of the hills and mountains surrounding the couple of the to get away region opposition. Parties in pakistan have been holding a major rally, calling on Prime Minister in one cant to step down. Tens of thousands of protesters accuse the military of breaking the election. 2 years ago. Voting is taking place in became a fast president ial election president watch, Mark Christian seeking a 2nd 5 year term in office 2 of his challenges have accused him of trying to rig the vote. Its the final day of the virtual g. 20 summit hosted by saudi arabia and the corona virus pandemic has been dominating the event. Leaders of the worlds 20 biggest economies are expected to pledge support to poor countries, to help pay for the distribution of vaccines medicines, tests. And a normal christmas is being ruled out for millions of people in the u. K. Because of the coronavirus stance of the exchequer. Next, as the government is looking at ways to help families spend time together, england is under a Strict Lockdown as the government struggles to contain rising infections. Those are your headlines. The news continues here on aljazeera after the listening post. Talk to aljazeera, we realistically, how can you do that . Institutionalize corruption and this country. We listen. If this breaks up and real conflict between august on and india, this has implications for the rest of the world. We meet with global newsmakers and talk about the stories that matter on his london card as chairman of the rock to the ukraine. Have you been on your mind and know this standing in the political shift, or is there anything . Look at that as a straight line. Its not a perfect leaving the b. B. C. These are the most vital, important, accessible cultural institutions in the last possibly in the world. The b. B. C. Was born almost a century ago in 1922. Just count the fuzz, its the worlds 1st public broadcaster 1st National Radio service. 1st state backed television provider. The b. B. C. Wrote the book supplied the model for the networks that have sprung up across continents, including the one youre watching now. Is probably the highest quality independent news and documentary coverage of any broadcast. She will rise edition of well, nothing to you. But i dont mean you sometimes the networks mission to inform, educate and entertain a service for the people funded by the people. That funding is the b. B. C. Strength and its achilles heel. The u. K. Government controls the purse strings, which puts the b. B. C. s domestic calm on a collision course with the politicians. It covers like the current Prime Minister baraks johnston, who is out to get it. He was never underestimate the malice of a Prime Minister who wants to destroy or beast reduce the power of the b. B. C. Concept of a picture as if the government has it in for the b. B. See, my advice is always watch out. If you see the enemy is movers. As its 1st director, general john reefed put it, the b. B. C. Would serve the whole of britain, the wealthy, and the poor, the genius and the food. And it would report the news without fear or favor. Mission statements are much easier to write the film and it didnt take long for conflict to sufis between the b. B. C. s dependence on the government and its journalistic need to be independent from it. The b. B. C. s news and Current Affairs output here in the u. K. Is at the heart of that conflict. One that has various points in the networks history and its very existence there is a pub tension between the government of the day or whatever political color and that the b. B. C. Ive put it this way. The b. B. C. Is independent of government pressure until such time as it is not a report from every other country to reveal the general which began an enormous industrial 926. Millions of workers take to the streets in a general strike called in support of britains coal miners. Put workers stop the presses in solidarity that left the b. B. C. Less than 4 years old. As the countrys only National News source, one, the conservative Prime MinisterStanley Baldwin wanted on his side. As the b. B. C. s founder, john reith knew that independence and impartiality crucial to its reputation. He also viewed the governments patronage as key to the b. B. C. s future. So general strike was a really crucial moment in the b. B. C. s history. The person who become the b. B. C. s 1st right to general is relying on the goodwill of government for the institutional future of the b. B. C. So thats the immediate context. Now the government strings along this kind of threat, the b. B. C. Being brought in the direct government control into the strike itself. And the reason they do that is pretty obvious because they know that it will impact editorially on what the b. B. C. Does. John reith compromised the, government would not commandeer the b. B. C. , but it was effectively given a veto over what could be broadcast dissenting voices from the trade unions to the Opposition Labor Party band. In order to resume negotiations, the general counsel the trades Union Congress decided the general strike today. By the time the unions called off the strike the strike as had a new name for the b. B. C. The british full said corporation. And that was before with invited Prime Minister baldwin to broadcast to the nation, preach zone study even helped write the speech. I am of peace. But i will not tolerate the safety and security of the british constitution. Hey, we can say that silly found all of the principles of an independence that was actually a man who allowed the Prime Minister of the day or when to broadcast from his own house and was very proud of his involvement in editing the words and making it sound better asking the b. B. C. That gray area that the b. B. C. Ends up occupying during the general strike and the patterns of reporting which are very overtly progovernment. That tells us something about the organization of the b. B. C. From the beginning. John reiths diary entry about the b. B. C. s role during the strike is pretty telling. The strike he wrote, many have lasted much longer, had it not been for us. And just months later, the network got the Government Official seal of approval through a Royal Charter that formalized its existence. But it came with Strings Attached ministers were given the power to choose, the b. B. C. s chairman and members of its board. The government word control the b. B. C. Is funding through a license fee collected from listeners. And the network will be up by the government, every 10 years its taking on new material. On the wrong night when britain entered world war 2, its media had to toe the government grind. As the primary distributor, an amplifier of Winston Churchills wartime speeches, the b. B. C. Now a global player, grew central to the governments propaganda drive. At the dawn of the television age, the b. B. C. Was well positioned to grow with the technology. And the times that was most clearly reflected in the 1960 s. And seventys. When a culture of deference was making way for a determination to challenge authority, it was an age of liberation. Questioning the old image of postwar assumption was a lot of form used more more than they do not. They were the wars in africa that nam was going every artillery support for the americans and also 1st theyre not immediately likely to lose out here. But i feel that the Climate Change i see perhaps mostly under the Prime Ministership of margaret thatcher. Good evening. Well, it looks like being one of the most exciting election nights when the possibility of a very close result and the prospect having its 1st woman Prime Minister at the end of the night. Margaret thatchers election victory in 1979 triggered a transformation of britains economy and institutions, including the b. B. C. By then a vastly expanded confident and at times combative news operation. Had the network in her sights and member doing an interview with her. And when we sat down, because it was live and we had to make sure it went out, we doubled up on the numbers are twice as many cameras twice as many people. Mrs. Margaret thatcher is here on panorama tonight, some time before. So she went on, going 1234 should turn to everybody in the room and the 13 people. And she said to mr. Dimbleby, you know, ahead of the American Television here this morning and there were only 2 of them. She believed that the b. B. C. Was soft in the head. The b. B. C. Was too liberal. The b. B. C. Was not understanding what she wanted to do. And from the very beginning, she was trying to find ways of emasculating. The b. B. C. There were 2 strands going on a government that was determined to believe the b. B. C. To make the b. B. C. Do what it wanted for in terms of the message. And it was also very busy, at least in program. That was its way of fighting back the politicians and Programme Makers soon came into conflict. Critical documentaries, on topics ranging from britains intelligence agencies to the falklands war were attacked censored, sometimes shout. But no issue was as contentious as the troubles in northern ireland, where british troops were 10 years into fighting an insurgency by the irish republican army. The ira waged, a brutal bombing campaign, while British Forces committed atrocities of their own. And the pressure on b. B. C. Journalists covering that story from politicians from locals from their own bostons was unrelenting. 6 in 1985, the fracture government got wind of a b. B. C. Documentary that followed 2 extremist politicians, one of whom was a suspected ira. Nida will be the cutting edge of a which will bring freedom to the government. Wanted to ban the film, the b. B. C. s board of governors, many of whom a been appointed by fracture agreed but the decision was the director general. Allister milne, a t. V. Producer by trade, was having none of it. And today to reassert his already existing controversial documentary on golden would run. The film was broadcast, but only after the addition of footage, like this 20 seconds dedicated to the victims of the ira. But members on borrowed time, soon appointed a new b. B. C. Chairman his mission as he later wrote. Oust milne quickly and brutally that was direct pressure just when nothing else matters. If it is a ridiculous question, because they are very sick, but its the old saying about the search area. This is the b. B. C. So why i wasnt touched because he removed the director general. But we will still win terms of mine whos striving really well to john burke came along for john birt. Soon to become director general was everything. Alistair milne was not namely, a fellow believer in free market ideals. But point was very important because he represented someone who share the view that more Market Forces ought to be brought into the b. B. C. ,. Full disclosure for much of the 1990 s. , the Government Official in charge of the department handling broadcasting policy was my father. Hayden phillips, he and john had their work cut out. We worked closely together in the run up to the b. B. C. Charter renewal and hears it were managed to enable the government to agree to a charter settlement, which was after years of tension with a sort of peace treaty. It was very important person in terms of the acceptability of the b. B. C. Within government. Oh, we couldnt stand him in new risks and couldnt stand him because he was shaking things up and he was a pain in the bum in lots of different ways. But thats great. Cheap and who is to recognize when the beautiful world was going . Had it not been for bert in the b. B. C. Would not be worried whose today . George bush is by all accounts, willing to stop side to help his ally and friend. Their weapons of mass destruction is going to fall apart. On the the 1st director general of the 21st century, greg dyke was a controversial appointment. Greg dyke was all smiles this morning when he heard a dog brought construct top job as a form, a donor to the party in power, new labor. Dyke was Prime Minister tony blair as favored candidate. But he was no pushover. By 2003, that rosy relationship had morphed into another confrontation between the b. B. C. And a government of war. Tony blair, as the Prime Minister wrote to me just before the war, started to say his thought that our reporting of the run up to iraq had been unfair. So i heard a pretty aggressive letter back saying, im sorry, but youve got thousands and thousands of people on the streets, protesting against you. Half your party going to vote against you, your whole future is in doubt. And no, sir, you cant be the judge of pashtuns, youve got to leave it to us. Baghdad tonight, under heavy bombardment on the day after the invasion of iraq was britains Largest Military operation since world war 21 that lacked International Legal authority. What the majority of the British Press supported the war, the b. B. C. s mandate was to be impartial. Not that that was always obvious. When Coalition Troops captured baghdad in april 2003, some b. B. C. News reports sounded similar to the spin coming out of the blair government. And even tiley, ungracious, even for his critics not to acknowledge that tonight, he stands as a larger man and a stronger Prime Minister. As a result, weve become a government, most peace, the worst specific voices who were not allowed. Tariq ali was one of them. I remember saying to my, to my admitted when you go to low war protestors onto this program and he said, well, we have to let the parliamentary opposition do his job for us. Meanwhile, outside the 2000000 people on the streets of london, norm of them ever being reflected properly in the program. I rather doubt that news and newsnight and those people deliberately withheld opponents of the war. Do you think they did enough to scrutinise the case for war . All i know is that from the moment from 911, im words on the program. I was doing question time. We had a wide range of views both for and against. Im just going to go and have a look. Ive got a folder with all the questions and stuff said just cause a 2nd and ill get it. Michael moore was Michael Moore in favor of the war rather doubt it. Here we are said to him, the 26th 2002, terra galley. You see. So he certainly wasnt some b. B. C. Journalists directly challenge the official line, which led to trouble. Defense reporter Andrew Gilligan was investigating the blair government dubious claims of iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Claims the from the case against saddam husseins regime that he has existing and active military plans for the use of chemical or biological weapons which could be activated. Within 45 minutes, gilligan had been briefed by government weapons inspector and concluded that downing street had quote, sexed up its case for war. He took his story on to b. B. C. Radio 4 against correspondent is Andrew Gilligan. Yes, i did. The 1st interview with gilligan downing street a week before publication ordered it to be sexed up to be made more exciting. You can get everything right, but he got the heart of it. Right. Thats to say that effectively weve been lied to and the world will forget, we can clear this group pretty much at the end of the interview. Number 10 was for, me, the b. B. C. Demanding a right look by demanding that we retract everything that we going to show. Because we do greg dyke, the director general, defended the b. B. C. And his report. But when going to going source was found dead a case of suspected suicide. Gilligan was left exposed and the government went on the offensive. But i ordered what came to be known as the hutton inquiry. Its official briefed to establish the cause of death of gilligan. So, but when the inquiry published its findings, it exonerates the government over its w. M. D claims and focused on the shortcomings in gilligans report. The verdict was it, the b. B. C. Was guilty. Hayden phillips was the Civil Servant in charge of setting up the inquiry. The hutton report is often described as a whitewash. What was your reaction when you 1st saw the reporters . I mean, a lot of my colleagues in government would you believe that the result of the b. B. C. Had a lot to answer for in the way they handled something which is quite difficult for them, but they still dont themselves into a trench. And wouldnt im not saying that b. B. C. Were innocent and the government was guilty, but i was genuinely surprised by the decisive this in which he pinned blame on the b. B. C. And nobody else. The chairman of the b. B. C. , i thought wrongly and told him only and the following day, the governors of the b. B. C. Got rid of me. So you would say that you were pushed. I was pushed was no doubt the governors of the baby. She lost their battle. Ringback like honesty, milne almost 2 decades earlier paid the price for defending the b. B. C. s independence. The new government approved management struck a more compliant tone. We must now study the hutton report carefully learn appropriate lessons and implement relevant measures. There were in the wake of the departure of the chair and the director general attempts to once again introduce risk averse editorial controls over controversial issues at the b. B. C. So we see the same pattern in place, risk averse culture, disseminating for the organization. As a result of an over conflict with the government. This for me was an important turning point. When i talk to older, more senior people, they date that that money isnt seizure of power away from journalism much earlier. Sometimes in the 1990 s. On the john birch, but by the time you had this defeat by the government over the report, it was that level of management control on steroids. Impartiality became really the excuse for an ideologically driven safety and refusal to challenge those in power. I personally didnt change anything quite literally anything about the well, the none of the editors, i think, well maybe i should qualify that a little. Some of the editors with whom i worked were maybe a bit more cautious. Otherwise, i think that was in the issues theyve run since the turn of the century, the b. B. C. Has tried to move with the times through diversity drives, streaming services, as well as physically branching out of london with its own 100th birthday. Just 2 years away, its future is by no means assured like many other state, but broadcasters around the world. Over the past decade, the b. B. C. Has been under constant pressure from right wing governments. And just like those other networks, its enjoyed wave after wave of cuts to its journalists programmes and channels to top it off. The b. B. C. Is now confronted with a conservative Prime Minister who came into office with his own broadcast agenda. Good evening and welcome to the b. B. C. News at 6 from downing street where Boris Johnson has promised to repay the trust of voters. Last december 1 day after his election victory Boris Johnson led a government boycott against flagship b. B. C. Programmes. Within weeks, his aides were Briefing Journalists of their plan to quote whack the b. B. C. By abolishing t. V. Licenses its main source of income. As it turned out, it was the government that was about to get whacked. The u. K. Governments Emergency Cobra Committee met this afternoon to discuss coronavirus, the b. B. C. Reminded the country of what it had to offer. What citizens were paying for the prying Vital Services to a population under lock down from home. How do you know, what are you supporting right back to home schooling . This is parts its audience crippled and keener than ever to reach british aizen is johnson was back on the b. B. C. Working together, tackling the, the disease using the social distancing measures following your boy collect whether the pandemic has forced johnson to change course, or whether its just delayed, the inevitable is far too early to say. At the heart of this uncertainty is the b. B. C. s journalism. If an increasingly cautious b. B. C. Can still speak truth to power and hold its government paymasters to account on enviable challenges for the b. B. C. s, new director job, tim davie is a b. B. C. Insider. But one with commercializing instincts and a background in conservative politics. Compared with the lofty ambitions of his predecessors, the davies mission is a modest one. Keep the b. B. C. s enemy is at bay. Its been a really troubleshoot or has to be has to be kept Simple Organization over the trusted year of almost a 100 years after the b. B. C. s birth. John reith dream of a broadcaster that would inform and educate and entertain. The nation has been realised several times over, but wreaths ideal of a truly independent b. B. C. Has been far harder to deliver. The tension it created with its government sponsors has at times of crisis, looks more like a contradiction. One that as the b. B. C. Heads towards its 2nd century, looks no closer to being resolved. Were going to lose a lot, not just to be lose the b. B. C. , but if we lose what it still capable of doing for those of us who kind of how this love, hate relationship with it. I mean, i love the exist. I hate some of the things it does. We must all be concerned about that. But weve already lost a lot because weve lost a lot of independence and a lot of desire to pursue truth above. Above the goal of impartiality. I think the battle to the independent is constant ongoing and depends on the, characters of the chairman of the b. B. C. The director general of the b. B. C. , the heads of news. And if ever they get sucked into a lovely relationship with government. And there are moments when that may happen. Were finished. This is aljazeera. Hello, im sam is a dime. This is the news hour live from coming up in the next 60 minutes. There is no food, water, shelter, refugees flee as the theo paean. Army moves to surround the rebel held capital of north and the virtual