章 81: Chapter 81 The Crown Prince's Support
"So, Barron, Lord Blair is very troubled by your newspaper's recent reports. After knowing that I will come to see you today, he expressed the hope that this matter will not be hyped up any further..."
"Your Highness, aren't those reports true? If Lord Blair feels that such reports will embarrass him, then the most important thing he should do is to quickly give the victims an acceptable result instead of blaming the incident on some terrorists. Wouldn't that be a joke?"
The person who spoke to Barron was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and the "Lord Blair" he mentioned was not the one who lived in 10 Downing Street at that time, but the director of Scotland Yard at that time - Ian Blair.
Well, this director has the same name as Viscount Bute, which is not surprising. After all, there are only a few names in Europe and America...
This is why the kings of England always have more "strange" nicknames, such as "Long-legged Edward" and "Red-faced William II"...
Because from the Normandy dynasty in 1066 to today's Queen, among the 41 British monarchs, there are: eight Edwards, eight Henrys, six Georges, four William, three Richards, two Charles, two Marys, two Elizabeths, two James...
So after having a nickname, mommy no longer has to worry about me being confused...
Uh... getting back to the topic, the reason why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince mentioned this matter today is because in the reports of The Independent in the past two days, Scotland Yard was directly given a special topic, talking about their recent "useless" things, blasting them as a bunch of good-for-nothings who cannot be expected to protect the British people.
Among these reports, of course, there was a mention of the "London Star" case - almost four months have passed, and there has been no explanation. The newspaper interviewed the victims of this fraud case, and everyone accused Scotland Yard of doing almost nothing in this case.
There are other cases, including the one that was just disclosed. In February of this year, a little girl was kidnapped. Earlier this month, the girl's body was found and it was confirmed that the girl had been killed at the time. However, Scotland Yard had always believed that the girl was still alive, wasting a lot of time on the investigation...
Precisely because this case is a recent hot topic, this report in The Independent has aroused the indignation of many people, and Scotland Yard has been under tremendous public pressure for a while.
"Don't worry about this, Barron. I have been following the case of the London Star, and I understand that you need a satisfactory answer. I will arrange for Sir Dearlove to meet with you. He knows more about the latest developments of this case than Scotland Yard."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Barron knew that the Sir Dearlove mentioned by the Crown Prince was Richard Dearlove, who is now the director of MI6. It seems that he needs to ask this person for more reliable information.
Of course, these things were just mentioned by His Royal Highness at the beginning, and this was not the main purpose of Barron's meeting with the Crown Prince.
"Also, what I want to tell you is about ITVDigital."
"Digital terrestrial television?"
When the Prince of Wales heard Barron mention ITV Digital, he thought for a moment and guessed:
"Are you planning to intervene in this matter? Isn't the BBC already negotiating with them?"
"The BBC alone cannot compete with Sky TV, or the News Corporation behind them. This has been the case since the very beginning of satellite TV. If the BBC had been more decisive, how could BSB have been acquired by News Corporation? And I am worried that the BBC will make such a mistake again."
The Prince of Wales also knew that it would be better to say that the BBC was negotiating with ITV Digital than with the government. The BBC already had a satellite TV station, and they also understood that building terrestrial digital TV covering the whole of the UK would cost a huge amount of money from scratch. They did not want to take this risk, so they needed government funding to take over ITV Digital. As for digital, I'm afraid they would like it to be funded entirely by the government...
"But Barron, you have to know that although ITV Digital has three terrestrial digital television licenses and the BBC only needs one, the construction plan of terrestrial digital television requires funds that are not comparable to those of newspapers. Moreover, according to the information I have received, the government is not willing to provide additional subsidies in this regard - at least it is difficult to obtain too much funding directly."
"You don't need to worry about the funds, Your Highness. My recent investment has been very successful. I now have a sum of money prepared for this purpose, and the subsequent funds can also be solved."
Facing the Crown Prince's questioning, Barron said confidently:
"Of course, in this regard, you should understand that as a noble, I have my own sense of responsibility. Just like what The Independent did, I will safeguard the interests of Britain, instead of doing whatever it takes to attract attention like some media outlets do."
The Crown Prince naturally understood what Barron meant. The News of the World and The Sun, both owned by News Corporation, could be said to be representatives of the kind of media with no bottom line that Barron mentioned.
"I also don't want to do it all at once. Instead, I plan to work with ITV first to produce content. Only after I have gained enough experience will I really get involved in the television industry."
The Crown Prince also helped Barron in the process of purchasing The Independent - Barron was not the only one who was interested in purchasing the newspaper at the time. In the end, the INM Group decided to sell the Independent to Barron. In addition to the condition that Barron would assume the newspaper's debts, the Crown Prince's use of his influence to intercede on their behalf was also a factor.
Therefore, as he prepares to intervene in the transfer of the terrestrial satellite TV license owned by ITV Digital, it is also very important to obtain the support of the Crown Prince and then the support of the royal family.
At least, the royal family can still have a say with the UK's Culture, Media and Sport Special Committee, which has the final say in the transfer of terrestrial satellite TV licenses. After all, television stations in any country are not just a form of entertainment for the people, but also represent the transmission of culture and values.
"As long as you have the corresponding conditions, I will support you in this regard, Barron. After all, we are on the same side."
"Thank you, Your Highness. You know, whether it is newspapers or television, my purpose is not to make money, but to retain my own voice in these propaganda fields in Britain. Especially now, when News Corporation is a bit aggressive in these fields, we need to maintain diversity rather than be controlled by it."
It has to be said that Barron's words really touched the Crown Prince. After all, the newspapers and media under News Corporation have reported a lot of gossip about the royal family, and many reports have made the royal family a little annoyed.
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