Fraud on TV: The Reith principles and watching British public service broadcasting

This paper considers depictions of fraud in British true crime television programmes and focuses on three BBC programmes from the period 2019–2023: For Love or Money ; Scam Interceptors ; and Fraud Squad . We question if there is a pedagogical structure to the narratives of the programmes. Our analysis is attentive to the lasting influence of British Public Service Broadcasting traditions and the influence of the BBC’s Reith principles. The data emerging from our analysis reveals the tensions that emerge from the programmes’ stylistic attempts to remain attentive to the earliest aims of the BBC and Public Service Broadcasting. The paper argues that the three programmes present issues concerning fraud through the BBC’s overarching mission to inform, educate and entertain.