Ministers are facing new pressure from Labour MPs to act to safeguard journalists’ jobs from ITV cutbacks, writes David Rose.
Labour members of the all-party media select committee have called on the Government to halt what they see as a growing trend to concentrate TV production in London.
This, they say, has been demonstrated by redundancies at Meridian TV and the loss of 400 other jobs and studio closures at Carlton’s Birmingham and Nottingham centres.
“The continuation of this trend to centralisation is undesirable for broadcasting, for regional economies, and most of all for viewers,” the MPs said in a Commons motion.
As well as calling on the Government “to protect the regional programme making structure of independent television”, the MPs said Ofcom itself should act to reverse the trend.
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