BBC ALERT

If the FT's report is only half right then a major media campaign should be mounted in Britain to ensure that whatever cuts may be necessary do not fall disproportionately on the BBC's factual output which ranges from Panorama to Planet Earth.

The BBC's financial difficulties flow from its failure to get an inflation-matching increase in the licence fee when the government granted it a new Charter last year. That is water under the bridge but the way in which economies are made is of crucial importance both to the health of British democracy and the BBC's international influence. The economy proposals have been drawn up by Director General Mark Thompson who is said to have rejected the alternative of closing down channels such as BBC Three TV, which has a tiny audience, and Radio One, whose audience is catered for by the commercial sector, in favour of cuts across the board.

These proposals are to be put to the BBC Trust (formerly the Governors) for approval next week. When he was appointed as Chairman of the Trust Sir Michael Lyons said that the BBC should not try to do everything unless it could do it well. That admirable sentiment will be put to the test next week.