Whatever happened to local TV? Steven Barnett speaks to BBC News

Prof. Steven Barnett has been interviewed for an article about the changing face of local television. The article, by Ian Youngs for the BBC, examines whether local television operators have truly fulfilled their role as ‘a new voice for local communities’, as laid out in plans by former culture secretary Jeremy Hunt. Barnett suggests that local TV really hasn’t lived up to expectations, describing it as “a nonsense plan from the beginning”. Barnett also notes how “one by one all the stations have gone to Ofcom cap in hand and said, ‘Please will you relax the various requirements [for] local content and local journalism?'” undermining the intentions of the drive to local broadcasting.

The full article can be read on the BBC News website.

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