stv 'new' news programme

With the Scottish Broadcasting Commission scrutinising Scotland's tv output - the broadcasting industry up here is in the spotlight yet again.

Earlier in the autumn, stv announced they were launching a new pan Scotland news programme at 5.30pm to precede North Tonight and Scotland Today.

Am I the only one who fears this will be a glitzy all show and no substance programme, or will we have decent journalists and a credible news agenda hand in hand with credible resources to bring a decent news programme to our screens?

Blair Jenkins is claiming that a broader change is needed - but how would this be funded and is looking into revamping broadcasting in Scotland happening at the best time (considering BBC and stv cuts)

Perhaps Scotland could survive with more channels with more focussed and prescribed programming. Dare I say it - could we have the relaunch of 'Telefios'?

I for one am interested in what people hope/fear stv will launch in January!

I would also like to know what you think about this commission for Scottish news and current affairs programming in broader terms.

Dear Chris,

Not just in Scotland, but in my opinion, the whole of the UK is lacking a good quality, sturdy news programme at regional level. The regions are, as you said, packed with good quality journalists who deliver good quality and credible reports at the top of the bulletins.

My concern has always been that the remainder of the programmes tend to be somewhat "fluffy" in content. I know that is largely due to market demand (i.e. the public wants it), but there is also a part of the public which would like to see a regional programme which delivers the same sort of in-depth analysis regionally that Channel 4 News, for example, provides nationally.

You only have to look at the daily regional broadsheets to see that there is a heck of a lot more going on than drunken louts terrorizing the city centers at the weekend. Political stories in-depth, media and the arts stories in-depth, economic data in-depth........these are rarely covered on ST or RS IN DEPTH!

It is difficult to cram all of the above into a thirty minute bulletin, when half of the slot is otherwise allocated to sport and fluff.

Whilst that may be what the majority of public wants, it leaves the minority scratching around to find their preferred news digest.

I just hope the new stv news programme permits a much more balanced approach.

Regards,
James

Thanks for all that James - while I see what you are getting at with your comments concerning packing so much into 30 minutes, I think the problem is the lack of news and current affairs output (which is due to lack of money being invested in these areas).

My main fear for this project though is that they 'disguise it' as a news programme - by all means discuss ASBOs and the latest Scotland footy strip but there is not balance between hard news and soft news.

Even within a 30 minute programme they could concentrate on hard news and let North Tonight and Scotland Today do the more 'fluffy' news.

I am also aware that people like pcuk are fed up of the 'box ticking' Reporting Scotland on the other side...I wonder if STV News at 5.30 will fall into the same trap?

I also wonder if there is more of an appetite for a pan Scotland news programme than localised news bulletins which comes from your neck of the woods. I know that many Invernesians complain at North Tonight being to Aberdeen and Dundee focussed.

Many people I know would much prefer stv to concentrate on localising the news more for longer periods rather than lump it into one programme.

There seems to be many who complain at an Inverness story leading the news they see in Glasgow...would this still happen in a pan-Scotland programme?

It's hard to complain about any new Scottish programme as it's not something SMG is obliged to provide. I suspect UTV's 5.30pm programme is the sort of thing we're looking at, which I suspect is not what we're particularly interested in. But in ultra-competitive commercial times, SMG is to be applauded for providing additional Scottish programming.

The concern is whether it's a sleeper for trying to have a pan-Scottish 6pm news, which I fear is what we're heading towards as we move more and more towards switchover.

But as far as I'm concerned STV is doing a great job with its news output - somehow it's better and more localised than BBC Scotland's, with a millionth of the budget.

Incidentally I was going to go on a long rant about Reporting Scotland but my arguments have already been well enough articulated higher up... thanks for saving me 10 minutes.