Block on BBC local video news cost 400 new jobs
THE BBC TRUST’S rejection of plans to invest in local video websites around Britain is a missed opportunity to revive local journalism, the NUJ said.
BBC bosses wanted to set up 65 local online video news services but the trust turned it down — on the same day that Ofcom published a “market impact assessment” claiming that they would be unfair competition for local newspapers. The BBC local services would have provided 400 jobs.
NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear said: “This decision is a missed opportunity to improve local news for communities around the country.
“Papers are closing and job cuts mean thousands of journalists don’t have the time to do their jobs properly anymore. ITV is withdrawing from its regional and local news commitments. Here was an opportunity to take a small step in the opposite direction.”
The plans were rejected after a vigorous lobby by the newspaper industry. Jeremy Dear said: “Newspaper employers have spent years taking huge profits out of local media while cutting jobs. Now they have helped to stop new jobs being created.
“They should put their money where their mouth is and invest more in jobs, training and resources for hard-pressed newsrooms.”