Proposed cuts at UTV have prompted a rare show of political unity, writes Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor
NOT EVEN the Belfast Agreement managed to win such a level of political consensus at Stormont.
UTV's plans to cut its news output, make high-profile journalists redundant and axe a flagship current affairs programme have led to a show of unanimity in the Assembly chamber involving everyone from Sinn Féin to the UVF-linked Progressive Unionist Party. It has also led to six party leaders signing a letter calling on the broadcaster to rethink its plans.
Protests at UTV before Christmas drew support from Belfast-based journalists from both BBC Northern Ireland and RTÉ amid claims that the future of private-sector provision of public service news broadcasting is in doubt.
According to the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and sister union Bectu, UTV is using the economic downturn and the blessing of broadcasting regulator Ofcom to cut its news programming with a loss of up to 35 jobs.
The regulator believes UTV should be permitted to cut news output from five hours weekly to four and non-news programming from four hours to just 90 minutes.
First Minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, SDLP leader Mark Durkan, Alliance leader David Ford and PUP leader Dawn Purvis have jointly expressed alarm. They want UTV to allow more consultation pending a major Ofcom report on the future of broadcasting due in a few weeks. "While still understanding of the economic pressures Ulster Television (UTV) finds itself under, we do think it reasonable to ask UTV to halt its plans to allow for those discussions to go ahead and also for the completion of the Ofcom consultation and final report," they wrote.
Calling for "robust and varied media in Northern Ireland", they added: "[The media] can be a vehicle for reflection, communication, investigation and analysis, and has provided in its different forms a valuable role here over many turbulent years and can provide a similar role in years to come."
David McNarry, who chairs the Stormont committee of Assembly members addressing the issue, said he had received more correspondence on the subject than any other.
Michael Wilson, managing director of UTV, said its commitment to news and current affairs remained undiminished despite the threat to the popular UTV Lifeprogramme and the in-depth Insightteam. "No one is more committed to high quality regional production for Northern Ireland than UTV," he said. "We have a proven track record in this area.
"We are in the process of consulting with our staff, regulator and elected representatives on our programming proposals which guarantee first-class news and current affairs coverage, as well as a wide and diverse portfolio of regional programmes for our audience going forward, as we do now.
"We have always over-produced our production quota and it is most likely we will continue to over-deliver the types of programmes our audience most want."
Some staff want the role of private companies in public service broadcasting examined. "Never again should the provision of public service broadcasting be left open to the vagaries of the private sector only," a senior UTV journalist told The Irish Times.
"It needs to have a more robust model than Ofcom and it needs to have a better system whereby public service broadcasting can be secured for the people of Northern Ireland. The private sector will always do whatever the private sector needs to do, which is look after it and not the public service remit."
NUJ Irish secretary Séamus Dooley said: "We are not convinced by Mr Wilson's claims that quality programming can be maintained against the level of cutbacks proposed."