OPINION: Ulster left in digital slow lane
THE government is deciding how news should be delivered in the future, but RUTH O'REILLY, who co-founded of Below The Radar Ltd, a local television and online production company, argues that Northern Ireland is in danger of being left behind.
Northern Ireland is in the Digital Britain slow lane.
That is the unavoidable conclusion for readers, taxpayers, businesses and politicians to draw from the fact that pilots for new ways of covering news have this week been awarded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to England, Wales and Scotland.. but not to Northern Ireland.
Pilots are needed because the whole media – local press, TV – is fundamentally challenged by the arrival of the internet.
Whilst ITV suppliers in other UK regions were keenly seeking a pilot, uniquely amongst UK nations, no money was made available to test new forms of news coverage in Northern Ireland.
Is that right for Northern Ireland ?
However good the existing TV news may or may not be - why shouldn't Northern Ireland have got the same public digital investment as, say, Wales ?
We're talking millions of pounds per year of investment that we're losing out on. Millions of pounds which would have created much-needed jobs and and help build a proper digital future for Northern Ireland.
But all is not lost.
We are suggesting to the DCMS that they step in to fund a pilot for news and current affairs coverage in Northern Ireland that is purely online, and focuses heavily on the areas away from big cities.
Our consortium would also create a new hub for investigative journalism that would be a true centre of excellence and tell stories that matter.
We are asking the DCMS to back an online-only news and current affairs pilot looking specifically at local issues. We made the same point to the Northern Ireland Select Committee in London earlier this week. This would cost less than a full-blown TV pilot would have cost, but would still have real value.
A fully open tender process should be held, and all media organisations should be able to bid for any money – on the basis of how they will use any money available to address that democratic deficit. That could include TV companies, newspapers, online firms – all within Northern Ireland. And may the best bid win.
The Minister at the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Nelson McCausland MLA has taken up the issue and is pressing London hard to allow Northern Ireland to join the digital news age.
From the feedback we're getting, the signs are that his colleagues at Stormont see real value in our proposals, and will put the case for funding to the UK Government.
So hopefully next year there could be a local, online news service, as a real alternative to TV news on BBC and UTV. And newspapers here too could see a real benefit from having a dedicated investigative journalism unit.
Then, Northern Ireland would benefit under Digital Britain after all.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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