Dear Peter & Co
I have a suggestion to make, if I may.
I know times are tough, and I imagine resources are stretched pretty thin at the moment. Never the less when I see the noble institution of the BBC struggling to allocate the necessary time to what is obviously a crucial subject, nay a truly nail-biting fulcrum of international affairs, I must speak out.
Your news room has made a brave effort since the spring. Credit to them for that. Until then I didn't know what I was missing. But since then I think it's obvious that this is one very important issue which has been had to jostle for airtime in a very undignified way, fighting for adequate coverage with stories of less gravity, like war and economic meltdown. To show you what I mean here are some of the stories, all of which your journalists had to somehow render down to only the most pertinent facts for lack of time and column inches. For shame.
"DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE WATCH INBETWEENERS MOVIE - Prince William and Kate Middleton were seen out watching The Inbetweeners Movie on Wednesday evening. The royal couple, both 29, were said to have been laughing out loud at the British comedy."
An historical milestone. I will never forget where I was when I heard that. Yes, the JFK assassination, 9/11 and now this.
"ROYAL COUPLE CHOOSE KENSINGTON PALACE APARTMENT AND LONDON HOME...But the couple will not move into the family-sized apartment for two years, because structural improvements are needed to make it habitable."
It's your duty to keep the nation updated on that one. Perhaps you could do a live feed of the builders scratching their backsides for 24 months?
"QUEEN AND DAVID CAMERON ATTEND ANNUAL BRAEMAR GATHERING - Thousands of people have been enjoying Highland dancing and pipe bands at the Braemar Highland Gathering. There had been some speculation that Prince William and his wife Catherine might also be there."
If there are any other events William and Wife didn't go to then you must let the people know. Preferably in advance next time. Also where was the analysis? Why did the happy couple choose not to go? Was William a affecting rescue in his helicopter? Was his kilt in the wash?
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| I hate tossing cabers! |
And here's my personal favorite...
"NEWLY-WED PRINCE WILLIAM 'LEFT HANDBRAKE ON' - Prince William apparently left the handbrake on as he drove his new bride Catherine away in a classic Aston Martin, a royal photographer has said."
Why there wasn't a panorama special on that one I'll never know. Still I like the way you put the inverted commas in there, likely on sound legal advice. After all, what if you presented such a contentious allegation as fact and it was later proven erroneous? A inaccuracy like that would break a solemn trust and leave some pretty ugly scar tissue on the psyche of the nation. It wouldn't do.
Finally I did a quick search on your website for "Prince William", and found just 11 items which featured him in the past 11 days. By my maths that works out at an average, (though I must caveat this is only a very rough guestimate), of less than 1.1 stories a day!
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| Only one a day?!! One is not content with one. |
And its not just the quantity, it's the quality as well. Why when the latest story broke - "NoW PAID PI TO WATCH ROYALS AND CELEBRITIES" - it was all the BBC News 24 anchorman could do to keep the guest expert on topic. There he was waffling on about the 100+ other high profile individuals who were followed around by News International's PI and no less than 3 times the anchor had to interject for a little more clarity on William! Was the looping video track of William getting in and out of vehicles, flying a plane, beckoning people to sit down and rubbing his bald head not enough to focus this man's attention on the matter at hand? That never gets old by the way - watching that loop over and over for minutes on end. New layers of deeper insight keep revealing themselves.
There must be legions of people up and down the UK, polishing their commemorative plates with anxious energy, wondering "What does William think?" and "How does William fit into all this?", about nearly every news item I should think. We're all living, I fear, in a "William vacuum".
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| Commemorative Urns available now |
It's obvious to me you have but one choice. You must dedicate a whole new channel if you want to do that young man any justice.
I expect you'll want to get your branding people to have the final say but here are my ideas on what to call the new channel. What about "BBC William" or "The Prince B Billy C Channel" or perhaps even the somewhat whimsical, and my personal preference; "Willy One"?
Let me know your thoughts.
Oh, and before this gets embarrassing let me make another of my preferences known; on one, I fear inevitable, matter. The Family Saxe-Coburg and Gotha might well want to bestow on me a peerage or a knighthood or at least some kind of _BE suffix for this patriotic suggestion. Alas I'm a simple man, content to use the honorific "Peon" in my more formal correspondences. But if they want to show their gratitude then a simple signed piece of William memorabilia will be more than enough. A polo shirt, pair of ermine underwear or limited production tea-towel would be great - with the message of appreciation made out to "Ebay".
Best
Peon
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