Rise of the BBC women as male news hosts are axed: Female presenters go solo as mixed pairings are purged in latest round of cutbacks
They have been the mainstay of BBC's regional news bulletins for decades. But as the corporation's cost-cutting operation gathers pace, dozens of its older male journalists have filed their reports for the very last time. Twenty-nine regional news reporters and presenters have left or announced their impending departures in recent weeks, analysis by the Daily Mail has found – 82 per cent of them men who between them have more than 500 years of service at the BBC. The departures have left lone women presenting the news in three of the seven English regions where previously a mixed-sex duo acted as hosts. Two become one: Look North duo Harry Gration and Amy Garcia before he left the show last month Earlier this year it was announced that seven of the 20 presenters on 6.30pm regional TV bulletins will be cut, and some local radio shows will be axed. Regional news programmes with two presenters were told one would be removed. Among the departures is BBC Look North's Harry Grati