The move by BBC Northern Ireland to axe live coverage of the Twelfth of July provoked a predictable knee-jerk reaction lacking in perspective and context.
Events on the day will still be extensively covered in news bulletins and in the usual evening highlights package, with cameras giving a flavour of the parades across Northern Ireland.
The decision only removes the live element of the broadcasts that had focused on the Belfast march.
Read more: Unionists slam BBC over plans to axe live Twelfth coverage
Some of the reaction from unionists would make you think Orange Order parades were disappearing entirely from our television screens.
TUV leader Jim Allister slammed BBC NI as "anti-unionist", while the Orange Order labelled it a "further snub to the wider Protestant, unionist and loyalist community and our culture".
To label the British Broadcasting Corporation as anti-unionist is laughable. It was only last weekend that the BBC devoted wall-to-wall coverage across news and entertainment programming to the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
The Queen is hardly known for being a staunch republican.
Fury over the Twelfth decision may be heightened as it comes at a difficult time for the unionist psyche.
Irish Sea trade barriers as a result of Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol have left some unionists fearing they are being cut off from the rest of the UK.
Unionism in recent years lost its majority at Stormont and in last month's Assembly election the DUP was overtaken by Sinn Féin as the largest party.
The decision by the BBC will add to unionist fears that their political and cultural influence is receding.
But rather than some anti-unionist plot, the move is a reflection of changing times - both for the BBC and Northern Ireland society.
Unionism is no longer dominant in Northern Ireland. In the 21st Century the region, with its population of 1.903 million people, is much more diverse than simply green and orange.
The BBC as the state's public service broadcaster must reflect all aspects of society.
The region has a wide range of parades throughout the year, with one of the biggest being the annual Belfast Pride event.
If the BBC continued to have live coverage of the Twelfth in Belfast, many would surely start asking questions over why other parades in the city do not receive the same treatment.
In criticising the decision some unionists have pointed to the BBC's coverage of GAA matches, but seeking parity between the Orange Order and sporting events is a false equivalence.
Perhaps even more so than changing demographics in Northern Ireland, the BBC decision is a response to changing viewing habits and spending pressures.
The BBC licence fee has been frozen for two years, which was always going to lead to tough cost-cutting decisions.
It emerged last month that BBC NI's flagship current affairs programme Spotlight is to cut episodes and axe all its studio debate specials.
The corporation also plans to move CBBC, BBC Four and Radio 4 Extra to online-only, while BBC director general Tim Davie announced to staff that 1,000 jobs will be lost.
The spending pressures have accelerated a move to digital platforms where viewers are increasingly migrating anyway.
People view traditional TV channels less often, with younger audiences in particular preferring to watch programmes on demand via streaming services.
As debate over the future of the licence fee rumbles on, the BBC faces the problem in its 100th year of maintaining relevance in a market saturated with choice.
While the BBC has its faults and challenges, its global reach is one of the UK's key soft-power assets in maintaining the country's global influence in a post-Brexit world.
Far from being anti-unionist, access to the BBC could be considered an argument for Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom.
The irony is that some of the BBC's biggest critics most scathing of the Twelfth decision are also the biggest proponents for stripping back its budget and influence.
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