Re: BBC. Jlee has it right.
The BBC regularly gets accused of bias pro or anti the government from all sides in the UK, which IMO is probably a sign that its getting something right. As to why, I guess some of it is because the BBC is acutely aware of its global reputation (at least historically - World Service etc) as an independent source. And of course the licence fee=TV Tax=no commercials(!) helps as well. Just my opinion though.
Incidentally the BBC website is an absolutely amazing site which fully reflects the amount of money they have put into it (theyve been criticised for that too). In addition to news, sport, audio and video you can find online training courses on mixing audio for radio broadcast, the Hitchhikers Guide (h2g2) website, the Celebdaq celebrity stock exchange, recipes, exam revision guides, you name it. No ads, no popups (other than cross-media plugs for other BBC content of course
)
And if you search for 'Media Jukebox' you get a link for mp3.com with this:
"This lists the main players MP3Pro, Media Jukebox, Sonique as well as skins (MP3 player version of snazzy mobile phone covers) and other associated bits and bobs."
What a fan letter. Im sure its not perfect, but you touched on a hobby horse of mine.