HAVING listened to Radio 4's Today programme for half of its 40-year lifespan, I feel a connection to the news show. Like any old friend it sometimes irritates me: the business news is repetitive and cliquey; sports coverage is inadequate compared with the broadsheet newspapers the show aspires to emulate; and its air of gravitas can sometimes verge on the smug.

But I listen to the Today programme because it is a truly authoritative news source. Not driven by pictures, like the increasingly tabloid television bulletins, and without the political agendas of the papers, Today is journalism as pure as it comes.

So it is sickening to read newspapers known for devious, dubious and deceitful journalism decrying the BBC's flagship news programme in the wake of Dr David Kelly's death.

The Sun led the outcry. On Monday it accused the BBC of displaying "a total lack of judgement, bad faith, hypocrisy and low standards".

Hypocrisy? This from a paper which branded the dying Liverpool fans at Hillsborough as hooligan scum; which pays witnesses to criminal trials; which on the day it attacked the BBC was proudly introducing the man who will henceforth take its pictures of half naked women.

For the Sun to accuse any other organisation of producing "flimsy and offensive" news stories is laughable. It is also wrong. Andrew Gilligan is one of the more excitable Today reporters, and his inability to sound detached made him an easy target for Alastair Campbell over his "sexed-up" Iraq dossier claim.

But, in essence, Mr Gilligan's story has turned out to be true as confirmed by the briefings Dr Kelly gave to two other BBC journalists independently, in which he repeated the claims that Mr Gilligan aired on Today.

The Sun also condemned the BBC for not revealing Dr Kelly as its source before he died. But that really would have been a breach of editorial integrity: journalists have gone to jail to defend the principle of protecting their source.

Dr Kelly certainly was betrayed. Not by the BBC but by the Government. The Ministry of Defence launched a witch hunt to find him, and when they did, Whitehall officials did everything but give print journalists Dr Kelly's name and address. That went against an assurance that his identity would be protected.

This is the most unforgivable example of New Labour's addiction to spin. A man has seemingly taken his own life because the Government has no idea how to play things straight.

All the furore about the BBC obscures the real scandal. Tony Blair took Britain to war under false pretences. Dr Kelly is the latest victim of that despicable decision.

MY radio fixation is a key reason why I have defended the BBC licence fee in the past. No way could the free market have produced the breadth and intelligence of Radio 4, the sparky Radio Five Live or lively and local Radio York.

But my support for BBC television is waning. I can never find anything worth watching on BBC1, and BBC2 is filled with repeats. One reason for switching on used to be the refreshing lack of adverts. But now the ad breaks on the Beeb last as long as those on the commercial stations: at least two glossy (and usually dreary) promos for future shows, shot at my expense, are broadcast between every BBC programme.

So can we sell BBC TV to the highest bidder and keep the licence fee for radio only, please? An annual £25 payment would be music to my ears.

Updated: 11:06 Wednesday, July 23, 2003