Letter: Auntie at the bop: will she or won't she?

Sir: Maggie Brown was right to criticise BBC Radio for abandoning children and teenagers ('Auntie won't go bopping', 15 July). At the Radio Academy Festival in Birmingham, Liz Forgan, the managing director of BBC Radio, talked with pride of radio's unique ability to 'engage not just the intellect but the imagination of listeners in a way that goes straight to the bloodstream'. She also stated that BBC Radio complemented independent radio by providing a public service that commercial broadcasters could not match.

Yet under her guidance, at the very moment when an explosion in new commercial stations is extending choice for all but the rising generation, BBC Radio has abandoned children and young people to an endless diet of mindless commercial pop and prattle.

Meantime, I hope, with Ms Brown, that someone can be found to fill the gap and capture the imagination of our young. Perhaps the Radio Authority will take a lead in extending choice and be brave enough to license a station prepared to give a better deal to children and young people.

Yours sincerely,

JOCELYN HAY

Chairman

Voice of the Listener & Viewer

Gravesend, Kent

19 July