North Wales’s Conservative MPs have criticised the BBC for its ‘Cardiff centric’ news coverage when they met with the corporation’s new director general.
Six MPs from North Wales joined an online meeting with Tim Davie recently and urged him to provide more localised news content for North Wales.
All told the director general BBC Wales News was an important and valuable resource for their constituents, but it was widely felt to be too oriented to South Wales, and Cardiff in particular.
Ynys Môn MP Virginia Crosbie, who was at the meeting, said: “We made it clear to the DG that we value the BBC’s new service and its quality but we felt it lets North Wales down with its Cardiff centric news reporting and this is short changing our constituents.
“We were pleased he listened to what we had to say and told us he understood our concerns and more would be done to address them.”
Clwyd West David Jones added: “We were pleased to meet Mr Davie so soon after his appointment and to speak to him about BBC Wales’s broadcasting service.
“North Wales is very different from the South, and it is very important that its interests should be properly reflected. That means more news stories about, and from, North Wales and, ideally, North Wales sections in the evening news bulletins.
“Having opened this dialogue with the BBC, we shall continue our campaign to secure a broadcast news service that reflects and addresses the needs of North Wales.”
Those MPs on the call were: Sarah Atherton (Wrexham), Simon Baynes (Clwyd South), Virginia Crosbie (Ynys Môn), James Davies (Vale of Clwyd), David Jones (Clwyd South) and Robin Millar (Aberconwy)
Tim Davie took over as BBC director general in September last year.
