Just what does the BBC stand for in Kent

If the random samples of BBC’s local Kent and South East offerings are anything to go by the following seems to fit Bland, Biased and Craven at least in my view.

Bland? having the day off, I had the chance to hear whether Radio Kent’s Breakfast programme had got any better and realising it hadn’t with ususal diet of dross including a bit about internet shopping and people being grumpy first thing in the morning. I fitted the grumpy, irritated as BBC Radio Kent continued its fearless mission to ignore controversy, and meaningful debate.

Biased? watching tonight’s BBC 1 South East Today, was surprised that although they covered the eleven plus crisis in which an incompetent Kent Education, spends I guess several hundreds of thousands educating kids from outside Kent and is going to penalise east Kent by moving grammar school places to west Kent (see previous blog post), the report didn’t refer to Cllr Paul Carters earlier Radio Kent comment which I’ve hopefully transcribed fairly as “There is an over provision of places in east Kent and under provision in west Kent it is just a minor adjustment er which is attracting er er unnecessary publicity in my view, its commonsense and we should just get on with it”

Craven? I get the view that regional BBC exec’s are committed to being as non controversial, as they can be, hence a breakfast talk show which is all about talk and no substance, experienced journalists replaced with grinning younguns on the BBC news/magazine programme all smiles and no bite is not what BBC journalism should be.

The BBC should in a democracy, report the consequences of politicians who concern themselves with “unnecessary publicity” particularly when a local authority losses control of its money and then side steps the issue with er er commonsense.