Trevor McDonald: The face of ITV news

ITN won the contract by defeating a consortium backed by Sky and CBS News, which had promised to undercut ITN by more than �10m.

As a result, ITN was forced to reduce its own price from to �36m from �45m.

The job cuts have raised questions about the ability of ITN to continue providing quality broadcasts with less staff but the company is confident it can carry on delivering the goods.

It sees the new contract as the beginning of a new way of working, through the use of new digital technology, which allows journalists to work directly with news footage at their desks.

The system has been pioneered at its 24-hour operation, the ITN News Channel.

'Recession' Senior ITN executives said the move to a fully digital operation will help it maintain quality while reducing production costs.

But they conceded that "high-quality staff" will be leaving the company, adding they will take a proactive role in trying to find jobs for them.

The losses were "due to a number of factors, including the UK media recession, the increasingly competitive environment in which the company operates and ITN's reduced price for the ITV News contract".