Inform, Educate, Entertain — In That Order
De-escalation is a curious word. It sounds peaceful, yet one side almost always feels it has lost. That feeling, I suspect, comes not from the act itself but from the binary world we have trained ourselves to inhabit. Advance or retreat. Win or lose. Speak louder or be silenced.
Perhaps what we lack is not resolve, but a shared acceptance of a third way.
I grew up with simple moral anchors. “Do as you would be done by.” Later, I added one of my own: never say anything about someone you wouldn’t say to their face. These are not rules of politeness; they are rules that resist abstraction. They prevent the other from becoming a symbol, a target, or a narrative device.
When I watch television today, I am struck by how often those restraints are absent.
Lord Reith’s original vision for public broadcasting was clear: to inform, to educate, and to entertain — in that order. It was not a slogan but an ethical hierarchy. Entertainment was meant to carry meaning, not replace it.
Commercial television reverses this logic. Entertainment becomes the engine, and information is shaped to serve attention, emotion, and ultimately revenue. Conflict is amplified because it performs well. Nuance is sidelined because it is slow. Binary framing becomes the default because it is easy to digest and easy to monetise.
Public service broadcasting, at its best, offers something rarer: space. Space to think. Space to listen. Space to encounter complexity without being told who must win.
This is why the BBC still matters.
It is not perfect — no human institution is — but its commitment to non-bias as an aspiration rather than a posture is precisely what gives it long-term credibility. Those who seek to control or manipulate television narratives often believe influence comes from dominance. History suggests otherwise. Influence that is coerced is brittle. Trust that is earned endures.
In time, manipulation exposes itself. The “cat comes out of the bag” not because it is chased, but because truth has a habit of remaining visible while performances exhaust themselves.
If we are serious about social cohesion, education must include more than facts. It must include media literacy — an ability to recognise framing, emotional leverage, and manufactured outrage. This is not about telling people what to think, but about helping them notice when thinking is being done for them.
That, perhaps, is the modern expression of the third way.
Not victory.
Not surrender.
But illumination.
Light does not shout. It reveals.
And television, when it honours its highest calling, can still do the same.
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