Instructions

Welcome. Please read our initial comments/post and then you can simply add your own by clicking on “comments” at the bottom of the post. This will then show you other comments that have been added below the main post, and give you the opportunity to add yours in a small, auto expandable, box at the end of all the text. To complete your Post, you first need to identify yourself for security. Clearly, web sites can’t just allow you to make a comment without some form of security check, as it is otherwise wide open to abuse. So, having put your comments in the text box below the other blog posts/comments, you will find underneath the text box a window entitled “Select Profile”. If you click on this, it offers a number of options. We expect that many, if not most, of you will not recognise any of them, in which case we recommend you click on “GOOGLE ACCOUNT” as most people use Google anyway, and this Blog software is from Google.

The new page simply asks you to sign in, but if you haven’t registered, underneath this it says “Don’t have a Google Account? Get started”. Click on this and It then asks for your e-mail address and the name you wish to be shown at the bottom of your comment (some prefer an alias). It also asks you to choose and verify a password to protect your inputs, and then to type in the security check text (distorted text). Once done, you can Post your comment by clicking on the bottom box of the Blog page marked “Post Comment”. Next time, you will not have to do more than select “Google Account” and enter you e-mail address so the system recognises you. You can even tick the box saying to remember your password so it knows your computer and recognises you in future without having to re-enter/remember your password. Then you can click on “Post Comment”

Monday, 25 April 2011

Dorset needs fair play from the BBC!

A key response in a survey carried out by The Dorset Broadcasting Action Group (DorBAG) some time ago was that 95% (of some 4,000 respondents) wanted local news and events coverage on both local radio and on terrestrial television.

Even today, Dorset has no County Wide local radio station - neither from the BBC nor from a commercial operator.
And, apart from the lack of local news and events coverage available to all, there is also the issue that in the event of a major emergency in the county, we will not be informed what to do from our "local radio station"!

DorBAG has since been trying to persuade the BBC to provide the same service that similar sized local counties have e.g. Cornwall and Somerset.   But negotiations have so far proved fruitless.   From the summary of the saga/history on BBC's promises/plans/proposals, (as shown on the DorBAG web site under "Latest News"), all of which have gone by the wayside with various excuses from the BBC, it is clear that Dorset is being given the runaround.   Two of those plans were for a full local radio station based in Dorchester!

Dorset did have a part time (25 hours per week) opt-out programme from BBC Radio Devon between 1993 and 1996, but this was then closed, with the promise that Dorset would receive the same "just under 25 hours per week" dedicated Dorset programmes from Radio Solent.   Today, the only opt-out appears to be a short session on a Saturday morning.   So much for promises!

The BBC's latest plan is for a Breakfast only show "hosted by BBC Radio Solent".    However, as usual they qualify this plan by saying that they can't do anything at the moment because:

a) the BBC English Regions are currently carrying out a pilot in the Yorkshire and South East regions, where groups of BBC stations are sharing output in the afternoons to release resources for peak-time audiences at breakfast. This pilot will come to an end in the summer
b) The plan will then need to be assessed by the BBC Trust in the autumn once the above pilots have been assessed, before any new local radio initiatives can be considered, including a breakfast show for Dorset.
c) It will also be subject to a "Public Value" test in case it is deemed to be competing with Wessex FM.
d) Any decision is unlikely before the end of this year.

This despite the fact that their plan anyway is only for a brealfast programme, so it wouldn't even exceed their minimum requirement!

No doubt they will, once again, tell us that it is not approved because it failed one of the above tests or even that they don't have any money!    Mind you, they can afford a dedicated TV programme for Gaelic speakers in Scotland (for about 60,000 we understand, while Dorset - even without Bournemouth and Poole - has a population of over 500,000!).  

Surely it is time that Dorset had fair play from the BBC??
Posted by at 8 comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)