MISSED MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES BY MANCUNIANS, MACHERS AND MINISTERS

In support of Jeff Lewis’s letter ( JC, August 29), It was I who took the BBC to court over its decision to axe Jewish Citizen Hour on BBC Radio Manchester.

While I had enormous support from the president of the Greater Manchester Jewish Representative Council, as well as grass-roots support, I cannot say that I was overwhelmed with support from any of the other “movers and shakers” in the Manchester Jewish Community.

It was well known when the programme was on BBC Radio Manchester, that there was a considerable non-Jewish listenership, simply because of the timing of the programme — the latter end of what is known as “drive time”.

People on their way home from work would leave their car radios tuned into BBC Radio Manchester when the programme came on.

With its easy-listening, magazinestyle format, Jewish Citizen Manchester did so much to demystify the Jewish people to non-Jewish listeners and create greater understanding of every aspect of life in the Jewish community.

Not least of all, from time to time there would be heartwarming stories of Israeli/Palestinian and Arab/Jewish co-operation and endeavour.

These were stories that would certainly never be reported by Jeremy Bowen or Orla Guerin but which Jewish Citizen Manchester was able to present in a completely apolitical way.

How helpful this could have been during the nightmare we have endured in recent weeks.

Pressure from the very highest echelons in the Jewish community (nationally and locally) should have been brought to bear on the BBC in the strongest possible terms from the outset, when the BBC’s intentions became known. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

Own goal? Shooting ourselves in the foot? The choice is yours. Gillian Cohn Orange Hill Road Prestwich, Manchester

Jeff Lewis is right to complain about the axing of Jewish radio programmes but the general public do not listen to them. Far worse is the near-absence of mainstream rabbis from radio and TV programmes, and when rabbis do appear, they waste the opportunity to talk about Israel.

Earlier this year, the presenter on BBC’s The Big Questions asked a Reform rabbi to respond to antiIsrael comments from Muslims and Christians. She refused and just said that communities should get on with each other.

A few months ago, the Chief Rabbi took a group of colleagues around Israel and the territories, with the Chief Rabbinate and the rabbis’ communities paying for the trip. How many of them spoke about their experiences on local radio, television and newspapers? How many even reported on their visit to their own communities? Mark Drukker. Margaret Close, Reading, mark@drukker.freeserve.co.uk