[RDJ]

Special package celebrating Nick Owen’s win at the RTS Midlands awards. With special in-studio guest Bob Warman.

youtu.be 

[Mike]

Watching Midlands Today breakfast today, via the iPlayer - not only is the laptop/computer pedestal in the corner of the shot - but it sounds like they're using an ambient microphone. Constant sounds of papers shuffling and the presenter, Nicola Beckford, sounding like she's distanced from her microphone.

I also hate how there's a good 10px offset from the network and the local clock - why can't they align the two? It cannot be that hard to shift the template across when network are on air, or with a capture of network when editing the template (which being Caspar is HTML5/json).

up.metropol247.co.uk 

While both clocks aren't on screen at the same time, so it probably doesn't matter - it's the sort of thing that once you notice it it'll bother you. Gone are the days of Pebble Mill opting out entirely for Breakfast (and just putting network through their gallery) with the clock overlaid throughout, but there were no discrepancies between the clock on the network programme and the local opt outs.

[harshy]

It’s the same in Leeds as well the clock is a few pixels to the right maybe it’s deliberate so they can check that they are on air.

I imagine both Midlands Today and Look North Leeds both using the same software, it’s also notable that the logos on the Aston’s also look pixelated in the regions that do use the system.

[Mike]

I imagine both Midlands Today and Look North Leeds both using the same software, it’s also notable that the logos on the Aston’s also look pixelated in the regions that do use the system.

It's poor anti-aliasing which is a known issue with Caspar, particularly when it's not rendering using a dedicated GPU. Each aston/graphic is in fact a webpage with animation - OpenMedia talks to BigTed, BigTed talks to Caspar and generates a running order within it and each graphic is effectively a webpage that is then keyed over the output.

If the Caspar box is just a small computer running as a server, without a dedicated GPU (even something low end) the smoothing would be better, but if it runs on an iGPU everything looks a little bit off. It's certainly better than the ancient Aston Motifs/Mottos/Greens that they were using before but put against Network's Viz setup, or the newer Overdrive setup you can notice a rendering quality issue (the new Ross system has dedicated outputs and graphics hardware built in).

[mouseboy33]

Question..... was the regional newsrooms in the Midlands reporting that the City of Birmingham was on the verge of Bankruptcy or at least on a shaky financial footing prior to its declaration of bankruptcy?

The reason I ask is that Nottingham has just declared its now effectively bankrupt. Do these regional newsrooms report extensively on regional governments and follow these stories that eventually lead up to massive headlines like a major city going bankrupt? This news seemingly comes out of nowhere until it goes national. Just wondering if there is any back or regional reporting tracking the lead up to such a declaration. Do they have city hall reporters covering local government? Or is it just covering press conferences and charity appeals. Seems like no one is watching whats going on locally. At least maybe thats the perception. Someone's got their hand in the biscuit tin, not saying in a nefarious way, but this cant be normal.

x.com 

[DTV]

The reason I ask is that Nottingham has just declared its now effectively bankrupt. Do these regional newsrooms report extensively on regional governments and follow these stories that eventually lead up to massive headlines like a major city going bankrupt? This news seemingly comes out of nowhere until it goes national. Just wondering if there is any back or regional reporting tracking the lead up to such a declaration. Do they have city hall reporters covering local government? Or is it just covering press conferences and charity appeals. Seems like no one is watching whats going on locally. At least maybe thats the perception. Someone's got their hand in the biscuit tin, not saying in a nefarious way, but this cant be normal.

Fundamentally, regional government doesn't really exist in England. The closest are the GLA and Combined Authorities, though these aren't really governments but glorified transport executives with a degree of regulatory adjustment powers. Local government, which is what Nottingham City Council comes under, is also not particularly powerful, with incredibly limited levels of fiscal autonomy. In short, we're not talking about powerful institutions and the coverage of them needs to have that context in mind.

In terms of covering local politics coverage, each BBC TV region will have a political editor and there will be a couple of additional politics reporters funded through Local Radio (though covering TV too) - however, their remit includes all layers of politics within the region. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), which was launched in 2017 and is funded by the BBC, does provide reporters who cover local government and can report on BBC services, but even then these are still limited resources and its reporters will often be covering multiple local areas.

With the particular issue of council bankruptcies, the fundamental driving factor is the austerity policy of central government, which has substantially reduced the grants that make up a huge proportion of council funding. In some cases there are local exacerbating factors (Birmingham Council lost an equal pay case, meaning it has to pay £ms in back pay, and Thurrock in Essex was involved in questionable investments) and these have been reported on by the BBC before a Section 114 notice is issued.

[mouseboy33]

Thanks for the background information. Im aware that are few actual powers these authorities have with the exceptions of London and places like Manchester with an elected mayor and such. These "authorities" seem to have some powers as they are shaping their regions and clearly dont seem to be making smart financial decisions. Seems from an outside perspective, the reporting seems thin on the ground. Interestingly do the Local BBC Radio reporters appear on TV to present their reports if they are doing reports about local "authorities" and these financially risky/dodgy deals? Or arent just radio?

[all new phil]

People just aren’t really interested in it. We pay our council tax and they empty the bins and light the streets. It’s so dull it’s unreal.

[mouseboy33]

Oh I get that sentiment. Well thats most places around the world. Local government isnt that interesting really and boring even. But when you pay your taxes and 2 major cities declare bankruptcy, makes you wonder maybe they need watching if your tax money is going to waste. Then your bins dont get picked up on time and lampposts arent being fixed and the libraries close. A mate of mine showed me where the beautiful Victorian-era library is boarded up in one of the Manchester area councils because they cant afford to run it. Its really sad. There are lots of hands in the biscuit tin.

But beleive me I get the sentiment. Thanks for letting me know. Still wondering about the BBC Radio Reporters appearing on BBC Regional tv. Is that a thing or not?

[Spencer]

People just aren’t really interested in it. We pay our council tax and they empty the bins and light the streets. It’s so dull it’s unreal.

I remember one of the first things I was taught when working in local radio news was not to include the word ‘council’ in the top line of a story, as people would instantly zone out and not listen to the rest of the story.

The fact is though, they’re spending our money and need to be held accountable. A decent journalist can make a local council story relatable, relevant, and, dare I say it… interesting.