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LOCAL MP FURIOUS AT CHANNEL 4 BIAS

September 24, 2009 12:05 PM

Channel 4North Devon MP, Nick Harvey, is furious at the biased poverty stricken portrayal of Barnstaple presented in Channel 4's 'Secret Millionaire' broadcast yesterday.

"The premise of the show is highly laudable," says Nick Harvey, "what is not is the very deliberate editing to make Barnstaple appear as bad as possible - nor are the claims that Barnstaple suffers from some of the worst poverty and deprivation in the country."

"Any picturesque views of the river Taw, the Longbridge, Bridge Chambers or even the Square were conveniently excluded, despite several pieces to camera by the millionaire outside the Riverfront cafe; Shots of the library were filmed from above so that it looked like a derelict warehouse in the town centre.

"In a way it was also an affront to the good work already being done by the groups featured.

"Whilst the money the millionaire donated to the charity groups is very welcome the unnecessarily negative PR is not, which is economic misrepresentation of North Devon. What Channel 4 gave with one hand it potentially took away from our tourist industry with another.

"I will be taking this matter up with Andrew Duncan, Channel 4's Chief Executive as a matter of some urgency - this was not balanced programme making."

The derelict Babylon Inn and Funky Monkey pub on the Strand were shown in the opening sequences, but not the refurbished Venue. The programme had clearly been shot before the start of the refurbishment of Funky Monkey by Weatherspoons.

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