Support is staggering
IF THERE WERE any doubts about public support for high quality local ITV news they have been dispelled by the success of the unions’ vigorous battle to stop the cuts at Border TV, based in Carlisle.
More than 16,000 members of the public have sent campaign postcards to Ofcom, urging the regulator to preserve the daily half-hour news programme Lookaround. “We have been absolutely staggered by the level of support,” says NUJ rep Adam Powell.
ITV wants to merge Border with Tyne Tees TV, based in Gateshead, and do away with Lookaround. Instead there would be a single programme for the two regions.
Heavyweight supporters included the Carlisle-based road haulage group Eddie Stobart, which lent the unions its private jet for a campaign visit to the Isle of Man, which is in Border TV’s broadcast footprint.
Eddie Stobart’s chief operating officer Andrew Tinkler joined the group that flew across for talks with Isle of Man chief minister Tony Brown and with Douglas Borough Council. All agreed to back the campaign.
Among the team was Cheryl Broad, a local solicitor who runs the Facebook page called “Please Don’t Axe Border Crack and Deekabout” — a reference to Cumberland dialect in which “deek about” means “look around”.
Union reps have had two meetings with Ofcom and Adam Powell says: “Ofcom admit they have never seen such support for an individual station or programme. They are listening to us.”
According to the draft Ofcom report leaked in July, Border stands to be reprieved. But instead of maintaining Lookaround as it currently airs, the new plan is to make it a 15-minute “opt” into Gateshead. But the savings from this would be “very small”, says Adam Powell. “They would still have the cost of producing in Carlisle so it would just be an expensive PR disaster, given the support we have got. They might as well do the full half hour.”
And this could well be the outcome of the campaign.
ITV also wants big cuts in the Meridian region. A huge area from Southend to Swindon and from Margate to Weymouth would have just one news programme to replace three at present, with only short news opt-outs for specific areas. Some local bulletins would also disappear.