BBC Blogs - About the BBC - Inside Out: Back at the heart of the community

We know that current affairs can often be the most time-consuming and resource-hungry form of journalism. By its very nature – investigative, challenging, inquiring, calling those in power to account – it takes time, patience and care to get it right. Our teams, who live and work in the areas and communities they serve, know that more than most.

It’s incredibly satisfying, therefore, when an investigation appears to deliver some form of change – correcting a wrong; uncovering a truth, or simply bringing to the public’s attention an issue which others would rather be left alone.

At the close of 2014, our regional current affairs teams behind BBC Inside Out delivered two particular stories which gave us cause to be proud of their journalistic endeavours. As with all Inside Out stories, they get to the heart of a community and what matters to the people who live there.

The first was in the North East and Cumbria region. Their output led to an apology from North Yorkshire Police for their past failures to investigate allegations of sex abuse by the late Mayor of Scarborough, Peter Jaconelli and his close friend Jimmy Savile. A 10-month inquiry found both men would have faced likely prosecution if they were still alive today. The move was prompted by an investigation led by Inside Out journalist David Morrison. David worked in conjunction with the citizen journalists from the online publication Real Whitby to track down men who described their alleged abuse victims as young boys. After the programme was transmitted another 35 people came forward, leading to the police apology.

In the South, the team there delivered another strong piece of journalism. The story related to a Post Office computer system at the centre of an inquiry about why so many sub-postmasters have ended up accused of fraud. It’s a story with nationwide implications and the Inside Out team worked with The One Show allowing their high quality journalism to get the national profile it deserves. And it’s a story we will no doubt return to on Inside Out in the coming months.

Next Monday (12 January) Inside Out is back on BBC One for a run of nine episodes until March.

Looking ahead to the next run of programmes, the General Election in May is set to be one of fiercest contested in recent memory, and our regional current affairs teams will be reporting on some of the major issues facing both the country and the parties chasing power.

We know that the public interest in issues around the NHS, and around migration, remain two of the most important for our audiences. Both are areas where the picture within a particular region of England can be so very different. So, on Inside Out across the 11 BBC English Regions, we will be taking an innovative look at both these hot political topics towards the end of the series when the election date will be looming large in all our lives.

Inside Out is actually 11 different programme teams based in our regional BBC centres across England. They work closely with the regional news programmes to shed further light on some of the more challenging stories that affect people and communities in the region.

Away from the General Election, the BBC North West team will report on how the relatives of the victims of the MH17 flight, shot down over Ukraine, are still fighting for the truth and for justice as we reach the six month anniversary of the tragedy.

Elsewhere across the country we’ll be looking at the relationship between wind farms and churches: “The breath of God” according to one vicar, or a blight on a historic landscape? And we will be updating the issue of badger vaccinations – asking whether they’re a solution or sticking plaster.

If you haven’t sampled an Inside Out, now is your chance. Catch it on Mondays at 7.30pm on BBC One, or on BBC iPlayer. It’s full of surprising stories…where you live.

Craig Henderson is Head of Programmes for the BBC’s English Regions, with responsibility for current affairs, specials and weekly programming