To be fair though, the BBC are seen as a trusted objective source of news worldwide. They're on a tightrope and the fact that every UK government in power does its best to beat them into submission means they must be doing something right. What would you rather put in its place? The pure...
Quite. The alternative is that the BBC is the mouthpiece of the British government. Which is in nobody's interests. Other than the British government's. Obviously.