UUP MLA calls on BBC NI to rethink proposal to drop the business news slots on its Good Morning Ulster radio programme

In a statement, the former UUP leader hit out at the broadcasting corporate adding that it was ‘a negative message for potential investors’.

He explained: “I have written to the director of BBC NI, Adam Smyth, asking for an urgent meeting to hear his rationale, because I do not understand the decision. It strikes me as sending entirely the wrong message.

"Think no further than the work Joe Kennedy III is doing as President Biden’s Special Envoy for Economic Affairs, trying to attract foreign direct investment here.

“It’s a negative message for potential investors to read online that the state broadcaster does not rate the economy highly enough to justify a daily bulletin. Remember, the BBC have already dropped the weekly business programme that used to run for half an hour on a Friday afternoon.

“I understand there is an eternal argument between having fixed, daily slots for specific areas or covering developments on the basis of how newsworthy they are. But if this is a move to the latter, then why business news rather than sport? Or is sport to be next? These are important issues and it is incumbent on BBC NI to be transparent and accountable.”

In response a spokesperson from BBC NI, said: “We know how much audiences value the BBC’s specialist coverage of business and the economy. How we deliver this service is always developing, including in response to digital opportunities.

"We want to maximise the impact and benefits of our newsroom’s expertise and to deliver the best service we can. All of this is work in progress - as it always needs to be.

"None of it involves anticipated job losses or any reduction in the BBC’s editorial ambition for its specialist coverage of business and the economy in Northern Ireland. Any significant changes to programming in this area will be announced in due course, and in the usual way.”