In my last post (here: https://northwestisnorthwest.org/2020/07/05/the-bbc-should-not-be-cutting-north-west-tonights-excellent-news-presenters-and-weather-presenter-to-save-money/ ) I explained that the BBC intends to find £125 million in savings each year. Regional Television looks set to bear some of these cuts. In particular, where more than one News- Presenter presents the Regional News, there is a high likelihood that one of the Presenters will face the sack. This is apt for BBC North West Tonight where the programme- managers have found a winning team in Roger Johnson and Annabel Tiffin (the news- presenters) and Owain Wyn Evans, the Weather presenter. The programme might not cover the northern two-thirds of North West England at all well (the premise of this Website)- but the news team that viewers see every night are like a little family (especially to the elderly who are often alone)- the North West Tonight team have a rapport with viewers rarely found in Regional Television.
Proposals by Auntie Beeb to impose further cuts to BBC North West’s programming budget have caused much concern amongst viewers in North West England. Any viewers visiting this Website might like to know that the online campaign group Change.org are running a petition to save the BBC North West Tonight family. It can be found here: https://www.change.org/p/bbc-england-keep-the-north-west-tonight-family-together
I have signed the petition and I would encourage as many of you as possible to sign it too. Maybe the BBC will take note- and relent of their plans to cut news- presenters! Not that I hold out much hope as I, and others, have written to the BBC Head of Regional and Local Programming several times over the years (three different heads of Regional and Local Programming)- and got the local MP involved -all on the subject of poor coverage of the northern two- thirds of North West England: Little, if anything, has changed!
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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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Reblogged this on NORTHWEST IS NORTHWEST and commented:
The BBC are not changing their mind about making savings, so it is important that viewers write to the Department of Digital Culture Media and Sport at 100, Parliament Street, Westminster, LONDON. SW1A 2BQ to ensure that DCMS puts pressure on the BBC to change course with regards to any proposed cuts to Regional Television presenters, Regional programming, and to ensure the BBC invests MORE in Regional News programming so rural areas like Cumbria get much more localised output.