Why are our media so London-centric?

[Lencoboy]

With the well-documented explosion in reported Covid cases in London and the SE of England over the past fortnight or so, the media seem to be going haywire over it, yet a few weeks back when say, Merseyside, Gtr Mancs and parts of the Midlands were hotbeds for Covid, there seemed to be nowhere near the same amount of frenzied media coverage.

A similar phenomenon seemed to occur during the recent knife crime epidemic where the bulk of the focus seemed to be on London, whilst almost all of the other major cities were just as hard-hit, but received less media attention nationally.

Don't get me wrong, I"m not having a bash at Londoners per se, but it does seem that the press often single out London and the SE region as the be-all-and-end-all of the UK, when and where other regions and areas also matter.

[Pamplemousse]

Probably because most of the media is based there, but also Greater London has ten million people in it, in a country of around 66 million.

[fishman65]

LB, there's London and then the rest of the UK. Here in sleepy Northamptonshire not much happens other than a few escaped cattle or a broken down tractor. Have you ever seen the John Cleese film 'Clockwise' made in 1986? Their car gets stuck in a muddy field not far from Northampton, the one and only time I've heard us mentioned outside of our regional news.

[debs71]

I'm a Londoner born and bred.....still living in this total dive of a city too. I totally understand your frustration, Lencoboy.

Perhaps because it is the centre of government and the capital city? I really dunno though as there are just as relevant (and nicer) places in the country they could talk about.

It may also be that they are fixated on London and the South because way back in the Spring, we were hit the worst with the virus, then it sharply and quickly declined.......but now we are hit hard again and the spouted theory was that we had built up some kind of alleged immunity down here, but obviously now that is simply not so. I think they lose their sh*t about London as it is the financial centre and as Pamplemousse already said, a lot of the media are here so they have a vested interest.

Please DO feel free to have a bash at Londoners. Most of them are a pain in the a*se (I'm ok though.....promise!! )

[dorabella]

I'm a Londoner born and bred.....still living in this total dive of a city too. I totally understand your frustration, Lencoboy.

Perhaps because it is the centre of government and the capital city? I really dunno though as there are just as relevant (and nicer) places in the country they could talk about.

It may also be that they are fixated on London and the South because way back in the Spring, we were hit the worst with the virus, then it sharply and quickly declined.......but now we are hit hard again and the spouted theory was that we had built up some kind of alleged immunity down here, but obviously now that is simply not so. I think they lose their sh*t about London as it is the financial centre and as Pamplemousse already said, a lot of the media are here so they have a vested interest.

Please DO feel free to have a bash at Londoners. Most of them are a pain in the a*se (I'm ok though.....promise!! )

Quite right Debs71 - I live and work in London (although I'm not a Londoner) - this city is full of lazy journalists with nothing better to do than just regurgitate the same old junk. God forbid that they might actually go out and do some broader investigative journalism, such as they are paid for. And yes this city is becoming a veritable cesspit.

On the subject of the pandemic, of course London was hit hard and fast back in the Spring - main transit point with 3 connecting airports to spread virus from Europe inwards and outwards and inwards again. Massive city with huge population - is it any surprise that with increased testing among a big population the government is now able to cite a surge in positive tests and keep the fear scenario going? The numbers being racked up on the daily news are probably no bigger than they were back in the spring, the reason being that no mass testing was carried out.

I seriously doubt that there is no built up immunity in the population - immunity does not stop you contracting the virus, just aids the body in fighting off the bug before it can take hold and make you ill. Most of the population in London would have been exposed to the virus which was spreading freely and for the most part untested back in February/March. Viruses mutate and are cyclical and we are now in winter when all respiratory viruses generally circulate. Basic A-level biology, but the government wants to keep making a meal of it and scaring the risk-averse generation silly. No challenge from the media or parliament - what a lot of spineless ineffectual so-called leaders we have. No end in sight I am sorry to say.

[MyNameIsTerry]

As everyone has said above. Surely it's the same the world over?

Wales is having a big Covid surge right now, it's on the BBC site, yet no big brown trousers moment by the MSM. But I bet if you read a Welsh publication it would be big news.

Knife crime was actually worse in some areas of the country but no one cares.

But perhaps part of it is the political nature of the owners, editors, etc who try to drive their news at us rather than just reporting what is going on? So London is no 1 on the list for everything because all the powerful people are in there and they aren't going to care about a small town.

Surely within London the same applies? Who cares about Tower Hamlets until something bad happens? Even then as long as it's affecting we little people and not the wealthy it's not much of an issue. If all those stabbings were happening in nice areas the media would explode.

I'm sure our American, Aussie, NZers, Canadians, African, European, etc members will say the same.

Outside of these places it has to be something massive to grab press attention. Then it's quickly forgotten. How often do we hear of places around the world where some heinous act has taken place? For instance, I've just had a story pop up about a man in Jamaican who's penis has been ripped off by his neighbours dog!

[fishman65]

For instance, I've just had a story pop up about a man in Jamaican who's penis has been ripped off by his neighbours dog!

Yeah I think there's a joke in there somewhere Terry LOL

[NoraB]

I've just had a story pop up about a man in Jamaican who's penis has been ripped off by his neighbours dog!

Poor bugger's had a wuff time of it by the sounds of it.

[WiredIncorrectly]

Did you know there are two London's in the UK? There is "London" and "The City of London".

[Carnation]

I ditto what debs said except I moved away and now the news for me is about wildlife, farmers and flooding.