The Beeb

I think that it is entirely wrong that the BBC throws all its efforts and weight behind its Children In Need, Comic Relief and Sports Relief campaigns yet its own Wildlife Fund gets nothing but grudging lip service paid to it. Now the Beeb are going to close down the Wildlife Fund while CIN, Comic Relief and Sports Relief escape unscathed.
The BBC Wildlife Fund has, despite the lack of effort on the Beeb's part, raised £3 million since it began in 2007 while CIN for example - due to a fundraising effort that the BBC tirelessly promotes for weeks beforehand with a whole evening devoted to the actual 'telethon' with celebrities doing (even more) stupid (than usual) things and demented, in-your-face presenters from, I assume, kids' tv yelling at you to part with your hard-earned for the pweshus chyuldrun - rakes in tens or hundreds of millions.
The Wildlife Fund has done well in the face of sod-all support but I am sure that if the BBC had been arsed to put in as much effort for wildlife as they do for kids, then it would have done much, much better. Even the proceeds of the BBC's annual Countryfile calendar, featuring photos of wildlife, go to CIN and not their Wildlife Fund. From an organisation which has the best wildlife programming output of any tv channel anywhere, this is disappointing and frankly appalling.
I do not support CIN, Comic or Sports Relief, although I have nothing against them apart from the fact the Beeb makes a huge deal out of them, especially CIN, to the total boredom of all (it's worse than the run-up to Christmas), but I do support the Wildlife Fund and I think it will be a sad thing if the Beeb pulls the plug on it. If the Wildlife Fund is to get the chop then I think that Children In Need, Comic Relief and Sports Relief should also go.


Please sign the petition asking Lord Patten, Chairman of BBC Trustees, to think again.

Here's a Holly Blue. More to come later...