BBC cuts, local radio and World Service

Today's stories about MPs asking the BBC Trust to reconsider proposals that will see local radio programmes during off peak times broadcast on a regional, rather than local, basis. Headcount in some instances is expected to be reduced by a disproportionately large number, with some stations facing job cuts of 20% of current staff. 

With the cuts already announced for the World Service it seems to me that the BBC is choosing to cut the soft targets, the ones that are less likely to answer back.  The cuts in the World Service will undoubtably affect our standing and the BBCs respect across the world for providing impartial news to areas of the world that wouldn't otherwise get any reliable news.

The cuts in local radio will go along way to taking the BBC out of the community at a local level with a combination of regional link up and the possible rebroadcasting of 5 Live. 

I appreciate that saving need to be made, that isn't at issue here but for my money I would do something with BBC3 and/or BBC4 to make the savings and like local radio and the World Service to do what only a public service broadcaster can do. 

At the local level there was a time in the 80s when commercial radio was deeply routed in the community, I spent nearly 10 years at Piccadilly Radio and Key 103 so I have first hand experience of this and the way commercial radio has migrated to a jukebox radio format over the last decade or s to remain economically viable. 

So the only way of having viable local radio is to provide it through the public service remit.  Equally no one else is going to provide a world wide impartial news service that the BBC World Service supplies so again this should be protected. Surely the areas that commercial services can't offer should be protected like they have done with Radio 4.