all kinds of useful things.

TV My only experience of BBC Blast, the corporation's youth broadcasting initiative has been in seeing their megatruck park on the field in Sefton Park in Liverpool for a few days once a year, so when the Strategic Review suggested its closure I didn't pay it much mind, at least not as much mind as 6Music.

Turns out, as Laura Snapes argues, its work is vital, offering a range of community and educational services unavailable within the commercial sector, not least in terms of work placements. As a previous employee she knows full well the positive effect it can have on a young life and says that it's what led to her being in the position she is now:

"In May 2005 I was appointed BBC Cornwall’s Blast Reporter, which entailed spending the summer running my own section of the BBC Cornwall website. I interviewed bands, jewellery designers and the inventor of the first biodegradable surfboard, took photos of the Eden Sessions and played at being a real journalist for the summer. The same scheme went on in the majority of the BBC’s local newsrooms. With our sections being primarily arts-based and aimed at fellow teenagers, our duty as reporters was to file at least one article and diary entry per week in exchange for rigorous BBC training in internet content management systems, professional recording equipment, and safety procedures."

In other words, BBC Blast gives teenagers the chance to properly experience the business of working in the media across an extended period (rather than an odd week's work placement), and even if they don't subsequently go into the media, their life aspirations will at least have been increased, it having been illustrated to them that they have the ability and potential to do all kinds of useful things.

So Save BBC Blast, yes?

[follow @saveBBCBlast here]