Forgive me for stifling a yawn (nothing to do with your excellent
piece) as I read about the BBC ultra-local news and information service.
The
BBC, and its commercial rivals, have launched and re-launched their
‘more locally-focused’ TV news services more times than our readers in
the land-locked Milton Keynes have had to watch items about dredging
off the Great Yarmouth coastline on their ‘local’ TV news.
Yes,
technology allows you to aim news and information at target audiences –
but it still takes and needs journalists to be available to go out and
find the news.
We do our bit to subsidise the Beeb by producing
award-winning newspapers which are beamed directly to a target audience
via nothing more technological than a letter box – for free!
And for nothing local radio and TV gets a steady stream of news to lift for their viewers and listeners.
Without
more journalists of its own the BBC’s ultra-local service will have
long periods of blank screens or, as your article suggests, rolling
repeats until ours, and others, next issue is published.
For what
it is worth our local all-talk BBC Local Radio has recently
‘boosted’ its much heralded Milton Keynes dedicated morning and
evening shows by lumping them with the rest of Bucks after only a year.
Steve Larner Milton Keynes Citizen
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog