BBC: it's grim up north

It's BBC charter renewal time, so the powers that be at the corporation are doing everything in their power to be 'on message'.

After the trials and tribulations of the David Kelly affair and the Iraq war, the BBC needs to mend fences with the government - which means playing along with the government's politically correct hobby-horses. One of these is regionalisation. So BBC director-general Mark Thompson has announced that two major production departments, for children and sport, are moving to Manchester.

Will this save money? Unlikely, given the high cost of relocation for all those staff. Will this improve output? Again, unlikely, given that many of the related resources, like the news department, are staying put down south. Getting high-profile people who live in London to appear on shows in Manchester is going to be hard work.

'This is a wake-up call for the smug London media set. It's fun reading about the changes but it's no fun when they start pissing on your own life’, one BBC Sport insider told the Guardian.

The move also seems about a month too late. While the government set great stall on devolution, its plans for regional assemblies are now dead after a crushing rejection by voters in November’s northeast referendum. In other words, this is a pointless, symbolic gesture - which should play well with a government that has pretty much cornered the market in pointless, symbolic gestures.

All sport and children's to go north in BBC Manchester move, Guardian, 7 December 2004