To be pissed off at the BBC

[badlydrawnperson]

Fed cup with adverts for the kids 500 words competition on every BBC Radio channel already. Also for an organisation so (rightly) keen on diversity - the chirpy kids advertising it are from the South of England and the big selling point is the finals are at Windsor Castle.

Fed up obvs. The BBC is still staggeringly South of England centric.

BBC doesn’t have any advertising though does it...

In their defence it's a lot cheaper for them to do it close to where the presenters, production team and likely the celebrities are based.

Absolutely no reason a children's story writing competition run by an allegedly National Broadcaster needs to be based in the South of England. What happened to diversity and inclusion?

To be fair the terms and conditions make it clear that the BBC will contribute towards the finalists travel expenses so its not as though people from other parts of the country will be excluded.

Well, there's no reason it has to be placed in the North of England either, is there? It's got to be somewhere.

Isn't BBC Television based in Manchester now? Although the radio is still in London admittedly

It's at Windsor because of who is judging it! And they do pay towards travel costs.

It's a fairly London centric competition as that's where Chris Evans based it. Unlike Carfest etc it hasn't moved much!

As for diversity and inclusion... ANY child ANY story, judged with no knowledge of the author, just age group!

What the hell else do you want?

"What the hell else do you want?"

Adverts for it that feature kids from all over. No reason to only feature one regional accent as they are at present.

Final somewhere else.

Would be a start.

We hear a lot about how the BBC is supposed to be reflecting the country as a whole more - but it isn't for this.

Weird!

What ads? Like the one with the boy whose voice changes a lot?

I haven't seen or heard any ads for it with kids in, just Zoe Ball and actors reading clips!

I don't get your anger about it. It is wehre it is for some fairly valid reasons, given the venue has been gifted by HRH due to continued patronage. It would be very odd for it to be anywhere else at this time.

I say this as a Northerner - let it go!

Oh ffs. We hear a lot about how the BBC is supposed to be reflecting the country as a whole more - but it isn't for this.

Don't be so ridiculous. It does actively try to reflect the country as a whole, way more than most other broadcasters. But it obviously can't do that within every single campaign they run. And if they'd spend money recording kids from all over to get a variety of accents people would be moaning about that. So yes YABU.

And if they'd spend money recording kids from all over to get a variety of accents people would be moaning about that

It wouldn't necessarily cost any extra, seeing how London is so diverse - it's just laziness.

It wouldn't necessarily cost any extra, seeing how London is so diverse - it's just laziness

So....you're OK with them being from London, as long as they are diverse Londoners? Northern Londoners? From north London? Or northerners now living in London?

Have you got nothing else you can gripe about?

Who said anything about "Northerners". The UK is much much more than just the North and South of England.

Have you got nothing else you can gripe about?
Yes, fucking tons actually, what's your point?

I heard my first advert for it today and I only remember Zoe Ball’s voice. No children so I can’t comment on their accents. We live in the SE and if my child made it to the final I’d prefer it to be somewhere other than Windsor as we go there quite a lot to visit family (not THAT family) so it would be more exciting to go somewhere further afield. But the location has been chosen due to HRH so that’s that unless it was Balmoral or Highgrove or something.

I think you might be overthinking this.

If this upsets you you have way way too much head space

I listen to BBC 10 hrs/day & have probably heard all of 2 ads this year.
South Leicestershire is just about the population centre of UK. If you want to nominate Leicester to host next year's contest.

I must say, I do absolutely love the suggestion that the BBC can solve its diversity problem by spending more time in London. Bloody brilliant .

But I do get what you mean, obviously yes, there are many accents to be found in London so I take your point. Still think YABU though.

South Leicestershire is just about the population centre of UK. If you want to nominate Leicester to host next year's contest.

I was going to say there is a vast area in the middle of the UK we could do with hearing more from.

Not met many kids in London with northern accents. Any trace of it is normally lost with a couple of months of months of moving south. Not true of adults of course but I can understand them wanting to use a child on the ad. Is it more of a class thing? The kids on the ads do sound very posh. No sign of a Saaf London or MLE accent either.

YANBU.

Heavy snow in Northern England = barely a mention one the news.
Heavy snow in Southern England = lead item on the news.

My personal favourite - "Let's get a report from our North of England correspondent." You don't appear to have any South of England correspondents do you BBC?

There are far better reasons to get pissed off at the BBC to be honest #brexitbias.

Sorry I know this is not directly about your topic but the blatant southern bias certainly pisses me off too.

In general I agree that England and the South East in particular is over represented on TV. In entertainment and in current affairs.

The BBC has improved a bit (dramas like The Fall or the crime thriller set in Glasgow recently, forget the name of it) but there's a long way to go.

I don't think this is an issue to take lightly. It contributes to the idea that the UK is England, and the other nations are weird add-ons.