News you can choose

Jun 21 2009 by Philippa Tomson, Sunday Sun

MY nan was a wise old woman. Widely read, remarkable at crosswords, a great cook, with a thorough knowledge about the news on her doorstep.

To that end, Nanna Jones tuned into her local news programme every night at 6pm.

She used to watch both ITV and BBC but, if it came to the crunch, she would choose ITV regional news every time.

A child then, with only vague dreams about working in television, I didn’t give two hoots whether she watched one channel or the other but, boy, she made me laugh.

Every night, straight after the opening titles, Nanna would exclaim, “There’s my Wesley”. The presenter in question is the brilliant broadcaster Wesley Smith, familiar to thousands upon thousands of faces across the Midlands and Thames Valley. He was to the Midlands what Mike Neville was to ITV Tyne Tees.

Little did I know that I would, one day, front Central News with Wesley Smith on ITV1. My nanna never lived to see this, but she would have been in her element. And I would have committed the cringeworthy act of requesting a signed photo for her.

Wesley was her favourite. Wesley was her friend . . . and she’d never even met him.

But her enthusiasm and love of her ITV regional news programme underlines why it’s so important we hang onto it.

You are probably thinking: “Of course Pip is going to say that. She works in it.” And you would be partly right, but I am also capable of being objective. It’s my job after all . . . impartiality is a key skill of any journalist.

So I’m actually thinking about this from a viewer’s perspective . . from the perspective of my nanna.

Local news – whether on the television, radio or in the newspaper – helps retain some thread of community sewn into various colourful pockets across our country.

Dozens and dozens of stories break every day which enlighten us, sadden us and make us laugh. And we don’t have time to report them all.

So, with that in mind, newsrooms have to be choosy. Reporters cannot cover everything so they end up cherry-picking the best stories of the day. If the BBC had the monopoly over public service content then local news on your patch would suffer. For starters, you wouldn’t have the option of digesting so much of it and your choice would be taken away.

Why should you – the viewer – be told that if you want to watch regional news you can only tune into one channel. It’s like being told there is only one type of washing powder available. It might not make your clothes whiter than white, but it’s the only one on the supermarket shelf.

In almost every area of life we have choices. And that choice should extend to local news.

Traditionally, the BBC has taken the “issue” approach, ITV, the “people” approach. Neither is wrong, but there is a marked distinction, giving you another option, another take on a story.

I’m a great believer in competition too. Competition makes you raise your game. It inspires you to get that story first and transmit the best pictures and the best interview.

The adrenaline rush of breaking a news story before the opposition is so much fun. We pretend to dislike each other but actually it’s really one big love-in and thoroughly “incestuous” at times. I mean that in the loosest sense of the word!

I am sure my nanna would have welcomed Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report earlier this week.

It would have supported her love of picking and choosing the friends she invited into her home every night via that screen in the corner.

I dare say she would have eventually come to terms with the internet too. I don’t think it would have cost a lot to help her deal with the switchover. She had got to grips with Sky and the satellite dish long before she passed away.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a rocky road ahead, but I’m keeping my head down and getting on with the job I love.

And reminding myself how essential alternative regional news is to the lives of people like my nanna.