If Cumbria is badly served by television news then we can create our own
Last updated 09:45, Friday, 03 October 2008
Anyone who doubts the ability of news services in the North East to service Cumbria adequately cannot have been encouraged by a recent Look North broadcast.
When interviewing David Cameron about the promise of a high-speed railway line to Manchester or Leeds, Richard Moss, the BBC’s political correspondent said that only the North East had suffered real economic problems in recent times and that it was a priority that the line extend to Newcastle.
It is news to me that Merseyside, north Lancashire, west Cumbria and Clydeside had it easy in the years when manufacturing capacity was dismantled by Government policy decisions.
Carlisle was a manufacturing centre 30 years ago. It seems to be a retail park these days. What guarantee is there that the disembowelled remnant of Tyne Tees will serve Cumbria any better?
Perhaps those who are interested in maintaining an independent television voice in Cumbria should come together and ensure that the equipment in Border’s studios and edit suites is not put in a skip until a real effort can be mounted to create a service that can explain ourselves to ourselves while entertaining ourselves too.
It has been said that ITV.com was conglomerated to sell it off as a large entity to AOL/Time or Disney. Unfortunately they weren’t interested in an organisation with failing revenue-gathering capacity. In the process we lost 15 independent TV stations and a nationwide industry was sucked down into the maw of London with outposts in Leeds and Manchester.
In the 70s and 80s, YTV and Granada were world-renowned centres of TV excellence, then the accountants took over and now they are practically moribund.
In the 60s and 70s Border produced varied, locally-based TV and provided somewhere for local people to train in TV production.
TV production is not rocket science. It is just about having a good idea and the energy and determination to construct a programme whether it is drama, light entertainment or current affairs. The budgets of yesteryear are vastly reduced as costs have fallen.
All that is lacking is the belief that it can be done and should be done. Free of the shackles of ITV, I know it can be done.
ALAN MARSDEN
Gamblesby
Penrith
- It seems odd that just a fortnight after the Scottish Broadcasting Commission proposed a dedicated television service for Scotland (population five million) at a cost of between £50-75million per annum and within five days of the start of a Gaelic television service costing £21million per annum (only 60,000 people speak Gaelic), Ofcom seems prepared to allow ITV in England (population 50 million) to cut its non-news regional programmes to 15 minutes a week and amalgamate news regions in such a way that they lose much of their local relevance. ITV maintains that it needs to save £40 million, yet I understand that even with the present level of regional production, Border Television makes a profit.
Once again it appears that individual gain triumphs over the common good.
NIGEL HOLMES
Great Corby
Carlisle
- I would like to thank your readers for their loyal support of our programme, The Dales Diary.
The programme has had a long and successful run but, after 17 years, it will not be returning to ITV because of changes to regional broadcasting.
We have had tremendous assistance from the rural communities we have featured and presenter Luke Casey and I would like to say how grateful we have been for that spirit of generosity.
PETER MITCHELL
Series editor
The Dales Diary
