BBC NEWS CUTS

One, that's a right wing site with a known anti-BBC bias.

Two, other than regional news, the national continuity announcers are the best thing they do on the main channels. I would say, it's a shame that the english regions don't have seperate continuity announcers for the evening shift, but the bean counters at the BBC put paid to that back in 1980, and it isn't likely to come back. It's one thing that connects the audience to the main BBC channels in a better way than having just one national continuity announcer for the UK as a whole.

By that token, Global are wasting money having multiple feeds for all their local transmitters, when they could spend far less and just have one feed go out nationwide on all their Heart branded stations. But, of course, the right would argue that Global should do that if they want to, but the BBC shouldn't be allowed to. The hypocrisy of their whole argument just bores me.

From some reports it does look like there will be wholesale changes to the way BBC News commissions stories and programmes share material.

An observation made by many senior executives and presenters is how major BBC News programmes regard each other as their biggest rivals, rather than other broadcasters.

Eddie Mair once wrote how the PM production team would obscure the identity of guests on its running orders to stop other BBC programmes from knowing in advance who was appearing.

It’s also often played out on air - Newsnight used to revel in a Today presenter making a faux pas. Some presenters have also refused to appear on certain programmes or the News Channel. It does look like this will all change.

Some of this may be for the better. BBC NI has done a lot of good reporting that gets ignored by the national programmes.

If the BBC really does want to show how deep the cuts will be, all it has to do is propose the closure of 198 LW. There would be absolute outrage.

Sad to see Marie Ashby, who has long been a presence in the East Midlands having also presented on Central, leaving the BBC:

So proud to have been part of a multi skilled and multi talented team making @BBCInsideOut The East Midlands is our home and it’s been a privilege to help people here tell their stories. In these times of uncertainty I’ll hold on to some great memories and miss my colleagues ❤️ https://t.co/bE48xx5VOD

— Marie Ashby 💙 (@MarieAshby) July 3, 2020

So these bbc news cuts that must mean the end of Harry Gration on Look North?

Helen Thomas, the head of BBC England, who is behind all these cuts does seem a little confused about the justification for them.

She says: "We're going to modernise our offer to audiences in England by making digital a central part of everything we do."

The madness of this is beyond comprehension. I foresee a massive backlash over this from staffers and viewers alike and probably another embarrassing U Turn from the idiotic decision makers at the BBC.

Simon McCoy hit the nail on the head. This pandemic has shown without doubt how essential regional news is to the country, slashing such a huge number of people and making such drastic changes just doesn’t add up.

Pathetic!

I think perhaps she's just drifted into 'management speak'. Many large organisations use the term 'digital' to refer to a policy which makes efficiencies through technology and smarter working practices.

'NHS Digital' and 'DWP Digital' are divisions which follow that ethos, but certainly aren't broadcasting anything.

However, I'm not sure how technology can really replace some of your on-screen talent. It's just a convenient excuse for slashing jobs, which is used everywhere.