#Media RSS feed Television industry RSS feed BBC RSS feed US television industry RSS feed Greg Dyke RSS feed World news RSS feed Iraq RSS feed Middle East and North Africa RSS feed UK news RSS feed Turn autoplay off Turn autoplay on Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off * Jump to content [s] * Jump to site navigation [0] * Jump to search [4] * Terms and conditions [8] Edition: UK * US Sign in Mobile * Your profile * Your details * Your comments * Your clippings * Your lists Sign out Mobile About us * About us * Contact us * Press office * Guardian Print Centre * Guardian readers' editor * Observer readers' editor * Terms of service * Privacy policy * Advertising guide * Digital archive * Digital edition * Guardian Weekly * Buy Guardian and Observer photos Today's paper * The Guardian * G2 features * Comment and debate * Editorials, letters and corrections * Obituaries * Other lives * Sport * MediaGuardian * Subscribe Subscribe * Subscribe to the Guardian * iPhone app * iPad edition * Kindle * Extra * Guardian Weekly * Digital edition * All our services The Guardian home ____________________ [Media........] Search * News * Sport * Comment * Culture * Business * Money * Life & style * Travel * Environment * Tech * TV * Video * Dating * Offers * Jobs * News * Media * Television industry Dyke strikes out at US media * Share * Tweet this * * * Email * Matt Wells, media correspondent * The Guardian, Friday 25 April 2003 07.29 BST The BBC director general, Greg Dyke, yesterday laid out the case for the impartiality of broadcast news in Britain as against the "unquestioning" attitude of US networks, and warned the government not to allow the "Americanisation" of the British media. In characteristically blunt fashion, Mr Dyke said he was surprised at the "committed political position" of Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Channel, and "shocked" to discover that the biggest radio group in the US was using its stations to organise pro-war rallies. He urged the government to think carefully about its proposals to liberalise media ownership laws in Britain. "We must ensure that we don't become Americanised," he said in a speech at Goldsmith's College in London yesterday. Mr Dyke directed much of his ammunition against the global media giant Clear Channel, which owns 1,225 radio stations in the US, many of which took a staunchly pro-war line. "We are genuinely shocked when we discover that the largest radio group in the United States was using its airwaves to organise pro-war rallies," said Mr Dyke, who is also the BBC's editor-in-chief. "We are even more shocked to discover that the same group wants to become a big radio player in the UK." In the communications bill currently going through the House of Lords, the government plans to deregulate ownership laws, allowing foreign companies like Clear Channel to own commercial radio licences in Britain. Clear Channel is known for syndicating much of its output between its stations, and concerns have been raised about the threat to diversity. Mr Dyke warned that deregulation also raised questions about impartiality: since the September 11 attacks, a gap had opened up between the definitions of impartiality on either side of the Atlantic. "Maybe it was always like this and the requirements of impartiality in the UK were always different to those in the USA, but that's not how I remember it," he said. "Personally, I was shocked while in the United States by how unquestioning the broadcast news media was during this war." He criticised Fox News for its pro-Bush stance, which has helped it overtake CNN as the most popular news network in the US. "Commercial pressures may tempt others to follow the Fox News formula of gung-ho patriotism, but for the BBC this would be a terrible mistake. If, over time, we lost the trust of our audiences, there is no point in the BBC," said Mr Dyke. He speculated that the patriotism of the US networks had been driven by the fragmentation of the US media. "Many of the large television news organisations in the States are no longer profitable or confident of their future. The effect of this fragmentation is to make government - the White House and the Pentagon - all-powerful, with no news operation strong enough or brave enough to stand up against it. Mr Dyke rejected accusations that the BBC, which has spent between £7m and £8m on the war, had been soft on Saddam Hussein, insisting the corporation's commitment to "independence and impartiality" was "absolute." He said it was "absurd" to suggest journalists in Baghdad were "Saddam's stooges", and singled out correspondents Andrew Gilligan, Rageh Omaar and John Simpson for having brought home the "reality" of war. "Governments have as much right as anyone else to put pressure on the BBC," he said. "It's only a problem if the BBC caves in." * Print this Print this * Share * Contact us Send to a friend Close this popup Sender's name ____________________ Recipient's email address ____________________ Send Your IP address will be logged Share Close this popup Short link for this page: http://gu.com/p/6gxp * StumbleUpon * reddit * Tumblr * Digg * LinkedIn * Google Bookmarks * del.icio.us * livejournal * Facebook * Twitter Contact us Close this popup * Contact the Media editor editor@mediaguardian.co.uk * Report errors or inaccuracies: reader@guardian.co.uk * Letters for publication should be sent to: letters@guardian.co.uk * If you need help using the site: userhelp@guardian.co.uk * Call the main Guardian and Observer switchboard: +44 (0)20 3353 2000 * + Advertising guide + License/buy our content Article history About this article Close this popup Dyke strikes out at US media This article was published on guardian.co.uk at 07.29 BST on Friday 25 April 2003. Media * Television industry · * BBC · * US television industry · * Greg Dyke World news * Iraq · * Middle East and North Africa UK news * Share * Tweet this * * * Email We Own The Weekend * Get £2 off Guardian & Observer Celebrate the Guardian and Observer Weekend by signing up to receive £1 off the Saturday Guardian and £1 off the Observer for two weekends. Watch our video and get your vouchers Today's best video * Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong tearful in second Oprah interview Disgraced cyclist wells up as he speaks about his son's denials of his doping * Ned Kelly Ned Kelly given memorial service after 132-year wait Legendary folk hero's descendants gather in Victoria, Australia * Kim Dotcom - video Kim Dotcom's internet heroes Entrepreneur hails Google as 'society's most important achievement' * the dreamers We are Obama's dreamers Migrants Kathe, Antonio and Hendry on their goal of US citizenship BBC news on Twitter Follow the latest tweets about the BBC from the MediaGuardian team * johnplunkett149 johnplunkett149: Paddy's TV Guide on C4 - like Clive James on TV, without Clive James - started with 1.4m (6.9%) on Friday, beaten by BBC2 QI repeat about 7 hours, 23 minutes ago * johnplunkett149 johnplunkett149: BBC2 trumps BBC1 with winter tale http://t.co/AcwOSi4i about 7 hours, 57 minutes ago * mediaguardian mediaguardian: BBC2 trumps BBC1 with winter tale http://t.co/VQ2Nmd9C about 8 hours, 17 minutes ago ⢠Follow our team Twitter list for more media news On Media * Most viewed * Latest Last 24 hours 1. [Alan-Davies-003.jpg] 1. Alan Davies interview: 'I'm like a fine wine. I'm maturing' 2. 2. Keith Lemon's Celebrity Juice offers cock and bull defence 3. 3. X Factor's five-star hotel footage breached programming rules 4. 4. Mary Beard suffers 'truly vile' online abuse after Question Time 5. 5. Leveson's chief inquisitor calls UK press 'most unruly and irreverent in world' 6. More most viewed Last 24 hours 1. [Reinhold-Messner-and-Hugh-003.jpg] 1. Bionics users Reinhold Messner and Hugh Herr show pace of change 2. 2. Lionel Barber's email to FT staff outlining digital-first strategy 3. 3. Financial Times editor announces digital-first strategy 4. 4. Mary Beard suffers 'truly vile' online abuse after Question Time 5. 5. Financial Times editor criticised by tribunal over unfair dismissal 6. All today's stories Guardian Bookshop This week's bestsellers 1. Examined Life 1. Examined Life by Stephen Grosz £11.99 2. 2. What Has Nature Ever Done for Us? by Tony Juniper £7.99 3. 3. Play it Again by Alan Rusbridger £15.19 4. 4. Heaven on Earth by Sadakat Kadri £7.99 5. 5. English Affair by Richard Davenport-Hines £16.00 Search the Guardian bookshop ____________________ (Submit) Search Sponsored feature Top stories in this section Top videos Most popular Today in pictures * sports peronality 2012 BBC Sports Personality of the Year â in pictures Bradley Wiggins capped his remarkable sporting year by taking home the big prize at the ceremony in London * Martin Parr's M Video Christmas party photograph Dinner, dusk and dancing Russians: my best winter shot A glass of wine with a rough sleeper, Santa in trunks, a thousand partying Muscovites ⦠in a My Best Shot special, top photographers pick the image that sums up winter for them * Kimon, a long-tailed monkey grooms a kitten, whom, she treats as her baby, Bintan Island, Indonesia Monkey adopts kitten â in pictures Kimon, an eight-year-old pet female long-tailed monkey, treats a kitten as her baby in Bintan Island, Indonesia * Hot topics * Leveson inquiry * Phone hacking * Privacy & the media * Newspapers & magazines * News International * License/buy our content | * Privacy policy | * Terms & conditions | * Advertising guide | * Accessibility | * A-Z index | * Inside the Guardian blog | * About us | * Work for us | * Join our dating site today * © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. * Share * Tweet this * * Quantcast