"Project North" - has the BBC gone mad?

On the one hand this is pretty esoteric stuff - of interest only to broadcast journalism educators and their accrediting body, the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC).

On the other, it seems to be a case of some folks (as Dubbya would say) in the BBC following some new regional initiative right out of the window and into realms that would probably be illegal if proposed in Wales or Scotland.

What the BBC is apparently saying is that only people born or educated in the North can be considered for work placements - the key to entry level jobs - in BBC North (the area north of a line from Liverpool to Grimsby - not including Scotland, they add helpfully). But to most people living in north east Wales Liverpool and Manchester ARE their natural big city hinterland - is north Wales also 'not included'?

If this just covered the BBC's local journalism in the North it would be bad enough. But it goes wider.

Manchester is already home to UK-wide BBC production units - religion is the most obvious example. There are plans to move many more vital bits of the BBC's national remit north. I thought this was a good idea - once. If it's going to be subject to this kind of shoddy chauvanism - better stay in London.

Even more alarming is the promise that this nonsense is to be 'rolled out across the country'. So - if you're born in the West and want to work for the BBC, best train as a natural historian.

For the record, here's the full text of the email about this I received from BJTC secretary, Jim Latham.

Dear all - another issue on placements which may cause some short term problems but potentially could bring massive benefits and reduce the grief you get from your students over BBC placements.
This will take some explaining so bear with me and just 'cos you're not in the North Region don't think this won't affect you - if this pilot works it could roll out across the BBC
The BBC will launch Project North in February - in effect redefining the relationship between the Corporation and its customers, particularly in education.
The Region stretches from Liverpool to Grimsby, south of the Scottish border (but not including Notts, Staffs etc. There are deals being struck with every institution producing people from every occupational sector the BBC might be interested in for the future.
Ethnic and Social diversity are very big headlines, there's a big premium being placed on institutions doing outreach work to improve their diverse intakes - placements are an important part of this.
Project North will control placements in this region - for broadcast journalists it means the region will opt out of our central agreements with the BBC - and this starts at Christmas.
The tutors from the accredited courses in the North and myself met Margaret McLelland, the Project development exec in Manchester last week and cleared a lot of air.
The headlines are: placements not just in local radio but in tv, programming (entertainment, reliigion, politics) - agreed numbers of places for each of our accredited courses in the North - agreed numbers of places for students from the North who are on courses elsewhere in the country and who want to return home for their placement - these numbers may be modified by the level of commitment and outreach work being done by individual institutions and courses - no mention of any 50/50 deal - nominated BBC staff to become first-call liaison between our accredited courses and the nearest BBC newsroom - a need to get a clear idea of streaming placement demand across the year (we need to watch the Customs and Revenue stuff on this as well).
This could take a lot of pressure off the remaining central agreement placements and it has to be said will probably replace the personal contact arrangements which have survived thus far.
Clearly those courses early in the placement year - City and Westminster could be affected by this - whether to apply to the central scheme or to the North.
My view is that they should continue to apply to the central scheme if only because full staffing on Project North is clearly not yet in place.
I also think though that by Feb/March we should have the new scheme in place and I will pursue detailed arrangements on that and will arrange a briefing for the January plenary.
We obviously need information now from the institutions OUTSIDE the North region - apologies, I know this will be a pain - could you please give me numbers of students in their placement year (ie PG's and whichever year of the UG courses go out on placement) with home addresses in Cumbria, Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cheshire.
Armed with these figures I can go back to Margaret to get the numbers she's allocating per course.
Many thanks
Jim

Jim, I believe you're losing the plot here. It is NOT the BJTC's job to do the BBC's bidding, even if you do think there are 'massive benefits' and it makes placements easier.

This is a bad idea which a body like the BJTC should be resisting on behalf of those for whom it exists - its academic members.

But their influence has been weakened in recent years - the last BJTC meeting I attended was a vast table lined with industry representatives plus a pathetic cluster of academics in one corner.

The whole thing is out of kilter and the craven "it's all for the best" line doesn't convince me for one moment.

The BJTC has got to learn how to stand up to the industry bully - the BBC.