Kevin Spacey, the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre, complains that by featuring programmes such as "Any Dream Will Do" to select a leading lady for "The Sound of Music" and "I'd do Anything" to find an actress to play Nancy in "Oliver" is giving an unfair advantage to the musical theatre. "When are they going to run a talent competition for a play?" he asks.
I know how he feels. I've been thinking for years that the BBC gives an unfair advantage to organic farming compared with responsible conventional food production. Organic represents about 3% of UK production and probably 5% to 7% of consumption. But if you took the media as your guide you might think it accounted for more than 80% to 90% of what we eat in this country. The vast majority of our home produced daily food seldom gets a mention these days, even on so called farming programmes.
The truth is that producers follow their own likes and dislikes. In terms of entertainment this means majoring on what is likely to attract the biggest audience. When it comes to food, producers are selected by middle class food snobs who choose people like themselves to run programmes. It's surprising, perhaps, that despite their efforts, organic remains a tiny minority.
Don't get me wrong, I love musicals and enjoy the programmes Kevin Spacey complains about. I am, on occasions happy to eat organic food because I don't think it does me any harm - except financially. But don't expect representative balance from the BBC. They don't do that any more.