[interestednovice]

I'm guessing you're from London then? 

I think there are two points to make here. Firstly, although major political and economic news predominantly emanates from London, I can't agree with you about the arts and other related fields like culture and music. There are many other UK cities to rival, and arguably exceed, London on that score, two of which - Liverpool and Manchester - are close to Media City. Having Breakfast based in Salford has allowed regional voices to be heard - not necessarily always as presenters - but as contributors in the studio. For instance, it is refreshing to see academics from universities in Northern England featured for analysis, rather than the usual contributors from London. 

Secondly, creating more significant media industries across the UK opens up opportunities for young people wanting to work in the sector. Twenty years ago, I did briefly consider a career in the media, but I didn't relish the prospect of having to probably relocate to London. It's nice that young people these days have more opportunities across the UK to work in front of and behind the camera in the media industry.

So, yes, whilst it may create some inefficiencies, there are some significant benefits as well.

No, in fact I live in the countryside nowhere near neither London nor Salford. But I do not want to post my exact location. Expecting exactly this criticism, I mentioned this in my initial post on this thread.

We are in a time of ruthless cutbacks at the BBC, which are severely affecting services and output quality. Having programming scattered around the place, just to give vague “opportunities” across the country, is a luxury we cannot afford. Better to save the money, and reinvest it in other areas so we don’t have to have such deep and impactful cuts.

Also, this is unfair to staff in London who have already been hit hard by news restructuring. I know it’s fashionable to hate on London, but it’s not logical. Most Breakfast arts features are sit-down interviews taped at another time (probably because most big name artists, etc, don’t want to be on TV live at 6am) whereas politics and other such stories tend to be live from Westminster or other key locations in London. During the pandemic, everybody has become used to “down the line” interviews and this is a way to involve people from all over the place without the need for the physical studio to be in the same location as the contributor. It’s not a fair criticism (or accurate one) to argue that everyone who appears on London-based programmes is from London or presents a London-centric point of view.

So, to end as you start, “I guess you’re from Manchester then?”!