A good hour's scandalous end?

Within the next few weeks the BBC, which is funded by British taxpayers through revenues derived from the television licence fee, will take a decision directly affecting the lives of, if not all British Jews, then certainly those living in the North-West. Of comparatively minor not to say peripheral importance in itself, this matter strikes me as being of major significance for the whole of British Jewry.

The decision involves the fate of a radio programme that has been aired weekly on BBC Radio Manchester for 21 years. Jewish Hour was launched (under the title It's Kosher) in 1991. The launch was assisted by a small grant (£1,500) from the Manchester Jewish Representative Council. Originally a half-hour radio magazine, the programme was an instant success, and has for some time been allotted an hour of broadcasting time. The BBC generously donates the magnificent sum of £70 per week to cover the programme's expenses. Everyone involved in its presentation gives their services free. Now the BBC is threatening to axe it.

Ostensibly, the threat has come about as a result of a cost-cutting exercise ("Delivering Quality First") and - ostensibly - is without sinister intent. The BBC has already taken the decision in principle to scrap its regional weekday evening radio programmes. Instead, it will launch a "syndicated" radio magazine entitled All Around England, which local stations can air if they wish. This magazine will be produced by an independent contractor and will have a professional, salaried presenting team. BBC regional offices are (so I'm assured) under no obligation to "buy into" this magazine but they are clearly under pressure to do so. If, within the next few weeks, BBC North West decides to invest in this package, Jewish Hour will cease to be broadcast with effect from later this year. Should that happen, the Beeb will henceforth offer no regular programme dedicated to its Anglo-Jewish audiences and licence-payers.

This strikes me as scandalous on several grounds. The BBC is surely obligated, under the terms of its Royal Charter, to address the needs of local communities. The awkwardly titled "purpose remit" of the BBC Trust insists that "BBC viewers, listeners and users can rely on the BBC to reflect the many communities that exist in the UK. These communities may be based on geography, on faith, on language, or on a shared interest…" But how can that insistence be genuine if Jewish Hour is given the chop? As one enthusiast put it to me, Jewish Hour "is the only Jewish interest programme on the BBC… [its abolition] would mean that the BBC is entirely devoid of any programme specifically devoted to matters of Jewish interest."