War Of Words Continues Over Channel 4 Sale Plan: UK Culture Secretary Slams “Ill-Informed Leftie Luvvie Lynch Mob”

deadline.com:

A war of words has broken out in the British media over the forthcoming plan to privatize Channel 4 – with the Secretary of State for Culture Nadine Dorries in one corner, and the broadcaster’s chief executive Alex Mahon in the other.Following this week’s confirmation of the government’s plan to sell off the state-owned broadcaster which is funded by advertising, Dorries has penned a column in the Daily Mail to stress the “unique and important cultural role in British life” played by the channel that she says she watches herself, along with the rest of her family.

She called criticism of the government plan “lazy, overwrought and ill-informed rhetoric from the Leftie luvvie lynch mob.”She wrote too, though, of the vast sums spent by streamers on producing original content and said: “To suggest that Channel 4 isn’t already competing with new platforms for audience share, talent, ideas and skilled employees is wilfully delusional.”She added: “In fact, Channel 4 decreased the amount it spent on new content by £158 million at a time when it should be investing in new programmes, technology and skills.“The channel is niche and State-owned, a restrictive incongruity in itself.“And because of the way Channel 4 is owned, it cannot build a back catalogue to export, or have an in-house studio to create and sell content.

Instead, it relies almost entirely on advertising, which is increasingly migrating online. It would be irresponsible for any government to sit back and allow the status quo to continue.”Dorries called the plan to sell a huge opportunity to contribute to the “levelling up” agenda promised by this government – moving opportunities more fairly between the north and south of the country – and described it as a