BritainThe BBCA colossus quietly crumblesThe corporation can cope with a hostile government and angry royals, but not with Mickey MouseRelations between the British Broadcasting Corporation and the government have always been delicate.Stanley Baldwin bridled at the BBC’s coverage of the General Strike of 1926.Margaret Thatcher was infuriated by its reporting from the Falklands.Hugh Carleton Greene, the corporation’s boss in the 1960s, confessed that,when dealing with Harold Wilson’s government, “I found my experience as head of psychological warfare in Malaya in 1947 extremely useful.”The latest spat pits the BBC against not just Downing Street but the royal family, as well as many viewers.An independent inquiry released on May 20th found that one of its most famous scoops, an interview in 1995 in which Princess Diana claimed that “there were three of us in this marriage”, was secured partly by deception.Martin Bashir, the interviewer, forged documents to persuade the princess that she was being spied on.A BBC probe at the time led by Tony Hall, who later became director-general, covered it up.The BBC promises a review of its editorial practices and another report into its dealings with Mr Bashir,
