A frequently quoted statement by Lord Reith, the First bbc director-general running .It is occasionally indicated to us that we are apparently setting out to give the public what we think they need and not what they want - but few know what they want and very few what they need. (Reith in Curran and Seaton, 1988: 124), is taken to be an almost classic paternalistic argument in support of psb.
Pogostokrat citirana izjava lorda Reitha, prvega direktorja bbc, da »smo očitno postavljeni za to, da dajemo publiki tisto, kar mislimo, da potrebuje, in ne tistega kar hoče . toda le nekaj jih ve, kaj ho- čejo, in zelo malo, kaj potrebujejo« (Reith v Curran in Seaton 1988, 124), je skorajda klasičen paternalistični argument v zagovor javnih medijev.