Ground breaking union agreement set to transform TV news journalism
A
ground breaking multi-skilling agreement, enabling television news
staff to report, shoot and edit their own news material, has been
signed by the 大象传媒's Nations and Regions division with the NUJ and
BECTU trades unions.
The
scale of this agreement is unique in UK broadcasting.
It
will lead to training in Personal Digital Production (PDP) for up
to 150 staff from both journalism and craft and production backgrounds
over the next 12 months.
It
is anticipated that up to 100 staff will be appointed to new roles
as Video Journalists during this period.
The
agreement follows the successful experiment of training more than
50 volunteer staff from both news and craft backgrounds in new digital
production techniques (PDP) in a series of courses led by Michael
Rosenblum.
Video
Journalists will now be introduced progressively as part of a "mixed
economy" alongside traditional journalism and craft roles in
the 大象传媒's regional TV newsrooms in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland
and the 14 regional news centres across England.
A higher
proportion will be appointed in areas where the 大象传媒 is establishing
new local services like Oxford and Hull.
Staff
will be appointed through open competition and by direct recognition
of individuals who meet the VJ criteria over a three month assessment
period.
The
大象传媒 is committed to equal opportunities for all staff, whether they
are from a journalism, craft, production or technical background.
As
part of the same process of expanding journalism capacity across
the Nations and Regions, up to 110 journalists in the English Regions
will also be promoted to Senior Broadcast Journalist, bringing the
ratio of senior posts into line with the Nations.
No
staff posts will be made redundant as a result of any of these changes.
Latest
BARB figures show the 大象传媒's Nations and Regions are already enjoying
unprecedented success.
The
6.30pm news slot on 大象传媒 ONE has become the most watched news slot
anywhere on British television, with an average 30% share in May
2002.
ITV
regional news at 6.00pm had a 20% share in the same month.
"Our
aim is to build on our current success to provide viewers in every
part of the United Kingdom with journalism of unmatched quality
and range," said 大象传媒 Director of Nations and Regions Pat Loughrey.
"This
new multi-skilling agreement is a major breakthrough which paves
the way for us to cover more stories across the Nations and Regions
with more journalists and cameras on the road than ever before."
He
praised the trades unions for their constructive attitude towards
the new approach.
"There
has been a real spirit of collaboration and trust," he said.
"This
has created the opportunity for 大象传媒 Nations and Regions to take
its place at the forefront of best practice in modern television
journalism."
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