STV’s decision to cut its North of Scotland news programme in the face of growing financial pressures is a real hammer blow to the North-east, and to the loyal viewers who live in this part of Scotland.
The broadcasting company has recently announced that they aim to get rid of the North edition of STV News and replace it with a single programme broadcast from Glasgow as well as cutting 60 jobs across their output including camera operators and technicians. STV cite linear viewing declines and an increase in digital consumption of news behind their decision making, which follows on from a significant fall in their advertising revenue this year.
I believe that replacing it with output from Glasgow is not good enough. The North and North-east is a distinct part of Scotland, the home of energy, of fishing, of agriculture and with its own languages and traditions. Communities need to see this reflected in their news bulletins and have come to rely on STV in their long-standing commitment to the region. Now this looks set to the change, another victim of balancing the books and we’ll all be the poorer for it.
There are plenty of people who still access their news on the television rather than online, and who still remember Grampian Television as it used to be known. Switching to an online focus will miss huge swathes of the population up here who don’t live their lives through the internet, not to mention the loss of vital local content and the insight and experience of our local journalists.
I’ve joined with my colleagues in the SNP in calling for a reversal of this devastating decision by STV and for efforts to be made to prevent the loss of so many jobs. I will be raising this matter with both STV and Ofcom and will keep my constituents abreast of developments.
