Letter: Open season on the BBC

Sir: May I draw attention to one menacing detail among your coverage today of the BBC's crisis of confidence? This concerns Alan Yentob's exercise of the TV executive's self-allocated prerogative to lay down the law for radio (' 'Elitist' BBC admits it must go downmarket', 14 July).

Though he says Radio 1 and Radio 2 'come well out of research', apparently Radio 3 and Radio 4, which 'characterise the middle- class BBC' need to be looked at.

A thoughtless attack on middle- class values is evidently now regarded as politically correct at the BBC. What is wrong with being middle class? There are quite a lot of us. Let other people have Radio 1 and 2, and leave Radio 3 and 4 alone.

Change, carried out in the vain hope of attracting new listeners, would only spoil good radio for those who have listened in the past and will do so in the future, in order to please others who have not, and will not.

Yours sincerely,

JOHN KING

London, SE19

14 July