Scottish government urges Ofcom to reject STV's news shake-up

The Scottish government is calling on the television watchdog Ofcom to throw out STV's plans for major changes to its news programmes.

Scotland's main commercial broadcaster is proposing to end the separate service for the north of the country and reduce the amount of purely local news it shows.

STV argues that television viewing figures are falling and says its plans will ensure the news service remains sustainable.

But in its response to Ofcom's consultation on whether to allow the changes, the Scottish government says it is "unequivocally opposed" to the plans.

Ofcom needs to give approval before STV can make any changes to its news programmes.

It is seeking views in a consultation which is open until 9 February.

In its formal response, which has now been made public, the Scottish government says that it "strongly supports public service broadcasting and recognises STV's vital role in Scotland's creative economy and democratic life.

"However, we are unequivocally opposed to these proposals," it says.

"They represent a serious weakening of public service broadcasting obligations and risk long-term harm to Scotland's media ecology, democratic accountability, and local representation."

The government says the proposals would not ensure that audiences were well served with high-quality news across both STV's licensed areas.

"It is vital that high-quality, independent local bulletins are preserved; editorial centres outside Glasgow are maintained; and Scottish-based jobs and equitable news access across Scotland, and in both licence areas, are safeguarded," it added.

The current proposals would mean big changes for viewers in the north and a reduction in the volume of purely regional and local news provided for viewers in the central belt.

The plans include:

• The end of studio presentation from Aberdeen, with all news programmes being presented from Glasgow
• The short bulletins at lunchtime and in the late evening being shown across both Central and Northern Scotland and including stories of interest to viewers in both areas
• Most of the main 18:00 programme being shown in both regions and concentrating on Scottish national news, with about nine minutes of separate regional content for the two areas each evening

STV has emphasised that it will still have news teams in Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness.

Ofcom intends to publish a statement on what will happen next before Easter.

If it approves the changes, it will be doing so against the wishes of the Scottish government. Broadcasting is a Westminster matter.

At Holyrood's culture committee last week, Ofcom said it believed the proposals could be in the best interests of viewers but insisted no final decisions had been taken.

STV's chief executive Rufus Radcliffe said the company received no public funding and that the proposals were designed to protect its regional news service for the digital age.

"This carefully considered plan ensures the delivery of newsgathering and high quality coverage across Scotland on a sustainable basis for the company, and sees the expansion of our digital news service in response to the changing ways people are consuming news," he said.

"We will continue to have journalists on the ground in Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh, telling the stories that matter to people in these areas.

"STV is a commercial business with public service commitments, which we are incredibly proud of but for which we receive no public funding, and our proposals will protect our valued news service in the face of a dramatically changing media landscape."

Members of the National Union of Journalists at STV went on strike earlier this month over the risk of compulsory redundancies and the proposed changes, which the union has described as "cultural vandalism".

The cuts would affect 28 news staff. However, the vast majority of the people affected have either chosen to take voluntary redundancy or been redeployed to other jobs.