A few days ago I was listening to Radio 4, when an item came on about the International Olympic Committee profiteering over future Olympic Games coverage. Apparently they are selling the rights to various commercial television companies, like BskyB, and making hundreds of millions of pounds on the deal.

The BBC then interviewed one of their “talking heads”, who reported that there would be a limit to what could be done in “our country” as there are certain types of sports coverage which, by Act of Parliament, have to be available to “terrestrial/freeview TV”.

There was then a discussion as to whether the BBC would pay for any extra coverage not covered by this rule. In reply the reporter gushed that the BBC would certainly pay a big premium to have full coverage of the Olympics because of the importance in creating a shared sense of our “country” and of “Britishness”!

I wondered whether that reporter realised that he had admitted, on air, that one of the core purposes and objectives of the BBC is to propagandarise on behalf of “Britishness”?

In the light of this ‘revelation’ I would urge everyone to question which part or parts of the UK is actually covered when expressions such as “Our Nation”, “Our Country”, “The Country”, “National”, “The Nation”, etc. are used. Also please do consider critically what attempts are being made to manipulate our feelings in the forthcoming coverage of Olympic “Team GB”!