I have watched BBC North West tonight again, protesters of rioters defacing a “Penny Lane” sign in Liverpool, Sikhs in Manchester discussing the opening of their places of worship, the Manager of Bolton Wanderers having to resign after the football club’s relegation to Division 2, TT Races Not Going Ahead on the Isle of Man …and Acts of Kindness in Preston.
Any coverage of Cumbria- where apparently some beauty spots were left a tip by campers going against lock-down regulations? Any mention of Appleby Fair not going ahead for the North West’s Gypsies? Nope, not a chance! Why are a million viewers in Cumbria and North Lancashire seemingly so dismissed- is that not part of North West England too?
Which is a shame. Since Roger Johnson is a good charismatic and outgoing news anchor on BBC North West Tonight and Owain Wyn Evans is a (likewise) charismatic out-going Weather Presenter with a good rapport with viewers. If they properly covered the northern two-thirds of the English North West the BBC’s flagship Regional Programme for North West England would be brilliant!
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Published by northwestisnorthwest
My name is Ian Pennell and I am a freelance Book-keeper. I live near Alston in the North Pennines in north-east Cumbria. I used to live and work in Lancaster until 19 years ago and have friends in northern North West England. I have two Websites devoted to campaigning for local, relevant Regional TV, one for Cumbria/ North Lancashire the other for Northumberland/Scottish-Border.............................................................................................................................. A big problem is that the Regional Television Bulletins for the North West covers the southern third of the Region about 90% (plus a part of Derbyshire which is NOT the North West of England), covers the middle third of North West England poorly and covers the northern third of North West England not at all! When I was studying at Lancaster University, I used to watch BBC1 North West Tonight because it covered areas up around where I was brought up- in northern Cumbria as well as more immediately locally around Lancaster. Then I came home one day, turned on BBC1 North West Tonight wondering why they were silent on Cumbria and discovered why: Most of Cumbria had been chopped off the weather-map! ........................................................................
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In rural and northern Northumberland too, Regional TV, as is received by viewers, tends too often to be Tyneside/ Wearside/ Teesside- focussed with little news locally. Communities in North Northumberland have strong links across the Border into south-east Scotland and towards Edinburgh but none of the Regional TV News- services serving Northumberland today ever goes across the Scottish Border to cover significant happenings of interest to North Northumbrians. The region of Northumberland/ Scottish Borders/ East and Mid Lothian area is vast- but it is largely overlooked by mainstream Regional TV! .................................................................................................................... ................
In two websites, one for northern North West England and the Isle of Man (a country in it's own right that does not have it's own TV service!), and another Website focussing on Northumberland, North Yorkshire and the North Pennines I make the point that Regional TV that informs viewers of important things in their local area is a Public Service that must be funded better, in order that rural areas of northernmost England get good geographic- appropriate local news-coverage.
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