The clue is in the name!

What is the BBC's prime purpose?  Over to Lord Reith who practically invented the Corporation and stated its goals as to "inform, educate, entertain".  So first and foremost it is a news disseminator  - its job is to tell us what's going on.  So, although I can understand his annoyance - fury even - at the way the search of his house became public knowledge, I think Cliff Richards' decision to sue the BBC is misplaced.  Reverse the situation - suppose the BBC had decided not to broadcast what was going on, and it later came to light that they had known and chosen not to tell us - I think you can imagine what the reaction would have been - favouritism, cronyism, bias, partiality - you name it.  The police acted badly, and possibly wrongly, in releasing the information but the BBC were simply doing their job in acting upon it.