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Ah interesting analysis.
A more pressing issue with the BBC is that they've become very selective in reporting some government criticism. The fact the government has them by the spending nuts doesn't help...but then what's the point? It's supposed to be for the people yes, not the government?
JWestland-
I think the BBC is as unbiased as a large news organisation can be - which is not to say that it's perfect, that it gets everything right, or that bias doesn't sometimes creep in. But I really don't recognise this systemic rightward lean that the left allege - nor do I think the systemic leftward lean that the right alleges is borne out, either. The fact that both extremes are accusing it of leaning the opposite direction kinda suggests it's somewhere in the middle. It's just our political discourse is so fucked up that we've forgotten what it's like to have anything in the middle.
Edit to add - I think they've become more cautious, yes. But if I decide in my job not to run a story because I'm wary of the legal pitfalls, nobody is going to accuse me of covering up news that would be damaging to the government. The BBC, on the other hand, gets that accusation for almost every editorial decision it makes. I don't envy the editors that, not one bit.
Final edit - the one clear bias the BBC does have is to be pro the BBC.
h2o
This.
But now the recipes are moving to BBC Worldwide, they can!
I suggest you read the report on the BBC's purchase and sale several years later for a screaming loss of Lonely Planet.
You can see the summary here http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/our_work/commercial/lonely_planet_review.html
Basically, they bought a private travel guide company with the intention of turning it into a portal like the recipe site. What would that have meant for the likes of Rough Guides?
They utterly ballsed up the integration, so the travel portal never materialised. But this was basically the pinnacle of the Beeb's overstretch problem.
I don't really care if the BBC publishes recipes or not - it makes much more sense for non-core activities to be part of the profit-making arm, though, like the travel portal was supposed to be.
But this idea that the recipes were threatened with the axe precisely to create an opening for Murdoch properties alleged to be waiting in the wings is utterly fucking bonkers wingnut conspiracy nonsense, IMHO. You can google recipes from dozens of places. Hell, you can even buy recipe books in shops. Yes, the existence of the BBC recipe site basically limits the opportunity for the private sector, but no, you can't just give that opportunity to Murdoch wrapped up in a bow.