MPs called to back ITV regional news

BECTU officials are to brief the union’s parliamentary group on the current threat to ITV regional news on 26 March.

BECTU is campaigning, together with fellow trade unionists in the NUJ, in a bid to halt ITV’s current attack on its own regional news operation.

The BECTU briefing of MPs [15kb pdf] will prepare the way for a formal lobby at the House of Commons in June.

ITV announced last September that it wants to cut the number of evening services its produces down to just 9, from the current 17. As a result some parts of the country face the loss, either of their dedicated service, or of their regional opt-out.

The company is seeking OFCOM approval for the changes in a bid to introduce the scaled back regional network in January next year. The proposals coincide with OFCOM’s second major review into Public Service Broadcasting.

BECTU has condemned ITV’s proposals as a further breach of faith by the company with its regional audiences.

“Interestingly enough, the company is not suggesting in this latest proposal that the audience does not value the service; instead the company is clear that its intention is to save £40-£50 million pounds a year ahead of digital switchover in 2012.” commented BECTU communications officer, Sharon Elliott.

ITV staff in all the regions directly affected - Border, Tyne Tees, Central, Meridian, Westcountry and West - have expressed disappointment in executive chairman Michael Grade who went out of his way to renew the company’s commitment to its regional news operation when he took up his post last February.

Border campaign

Whilst BECTU has been making plans for a national campaign on the issue, staff at Border have led the way in an effort to save their dedicated service.

ITV wants the Border service to merge into that produced by neighbouring Tyne Tees; if this were to happen the current half-hour programme centred on the needs of the Border audience would be reduced to little more than a 12-minute slot out of another region’s broadcast.

Border staff have involved the whole community in the campaign to safeguard their service. The nightly news programme Lookaround (also known as Crack and Deekabout) has a strong and loyal following and does much to reflect the cultural and political interests of the region.

Local business has been hugely supportive of the campaign; it has even been suggested that a consortium has approached ITV to buy the Border licence to preserve the dedicated service.

“The creativity and energy which staff at Border have brought to their campaign says everything about the commitment which staff feel for the regional audience” commented BECTU official Paul Atkinson.

Save Lookaround

The Save Lookaround campaign travelled to the Isle of Man on 22 February to meet viewers and to lobby the Manx parliament for their support.

The campaign is acutely aware too of the Scottish National Party’s call for the devolution of broadcasting powers to Scotland; if successful, this legislative change would split the region.

Border staff’s campaign is now receiving national media attention with BBC Radio 4 due to broadcast a feature in its You and Yours programme on 26 March. More than 8000 local people have also signed the campaign petition.

“ITV have their 5 Year Plan and seem to have made up their minds that they are not interested in local news. They are proceeding to turn regional news into a format irrelevant to the viewer. When they fail to sell ice cream in winter and viewers switch off they will feel justified in the further culling of regional news.” explained BECTU’s Border steward Peter Howdle.

“There is in the Border region overwhelming political, business and public support for the Campaign to Save ITV Border News and Lookaround. ITV and OFCOM need to be made aware of the high value we place on our local service and that is what the campaign is about. Please visit www.savelookaround.co.uk”he urged.

ITV regional news has been the focus of much restructuring and many cutbacks in recent years, most notably as a result of OFCOM’s first PSB review which concluded in 2005.

Despite its remit “to maintain and strengthen” public service broadcasting, the regulator’s first review gave ITV the green light to cut non-news output substantially and led to the loss of more than 100 jobs across several licences. Investment in new technology has also been used to justify large-scale job cuts and a reduction in resources both off and on-screen.

BECTU members will receive further information about the national campaign in the next few weeks together with campaign materials.