Australian TV looks at Orkney coastal erosion

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Australian current affairs programme 'Dateline' on the SBSone channel has taken a look at how coastal erosion is threatening archaeological sites in Orkney, and and the short but interesting article can be viewed online here.

The article looks at Skara Brae, Viking burial grounds falling into the sea, and the ongoing work in Westray.

As they say themselves:

"The main threat to archaeological sites might seem to be modern development, but in the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland, it’s nature that’s threatening to destroy thousands of years of history.

These ancient sites have often been revealed by the effects of the wind and rain, but now the severe weather and rising sea levels are literally washing them away.

One expert describes it as the worst case of coastal erosion he’s ever seen and says the government is spending too little to save the islands’ history.

Video journalist Nick Lazaredes travels round Orkney and asks what can realistically be done to save them for future generations."

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News context

Orkney was served by two local newspapers, The Orcadian, and its sister paper Orkney Today, both papers being printed and published in Kirkwall, and coming out on a Thursday, until the Orkney Today was shut down in October 2010. The Orcadian continues, with a healthy circulation of around 10,000.

Further afield, Aberdeen's Press and Journal has a Northern Isles edition and carries Orkney news, and likewise the BBC website has a North East/Northern Isles section, reflecting Orkney and Shetland's traditional transport links with Aberdeen.

Orkneycommunities.co.uk is a focal point for the websites of over 100 community groups, and they can submit their news stories and events directly to its front page. But most news in Orkney emanates from the local authority, the Orkney Islands Council.

 

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