David Self (The Back Half, 28 February) is wrong to imagine that the BBC is beating its local radio stations into bland uniformity. Consider BBC Radio Solent's recent campaign on abuses in the telemarketing industry, which has now been taken up by MPs from all three main parties. Or BBC Radio Berkshire's oral history and community drama project, profiling and involving many of Reading's ethnic minorities. Or BBC Radio Bristol, which put on a community stage show called Concorde the Musical - based on the reminiscences of the Filton workers who helped make the defunct airliner. Or BBC Radio Lancashire, which pioneered the concept of delivering lifelong learning through an on-station community open centre and a travelling bus. The list goes on.
The power of BBC Local Radio has always come from our presenters and producers living, working, playing and maybe bringing up families alongside their listeners, and from their collective understanding of what radio audiences are seeking, which enables them to put all their diverse local insights into context.
We make no apology for updating this kind of audience information. BBC Local Radio has had the same target audience for years - its age doesn't change, but the people do, and we need to stay in touch with them. Back in the 1970s, we talked about Doris. Now it's Sue and Dave. This is not identikit radio. The whole point of it is that there are hundreds of thousands of different Daves out there - perhaps, if he listened more carefully, including Mr Self.
Andy Griffee
Controller, BBC English Regions
London W12
