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<BR>
Oh dear!<BR>
<BR>I do wish that when something like this is released to the Industry - and indeed to the public at large - that the account be re-written in accurate English as opposed to glib uninformed media-speak.<BR>
<BR>
1 - There will not be a ".....switch-over from the analogue television signal to digital.....".<BR>
The terrestrial digital service will be completed and the analogue service will cease.<BR>
There is no magic "Switchover" <BR>
<BR>
2 - Ofcom will not ".....be able to create 81 new local television channels at little cost....."<BR>
Ofcom will be able to release spectrum vacated by present analouge services which can be made available for 81 possible local television services.<BR>
<BR>
3 - Having announced the coming availability of channels, it's then confusing to the reader to write that "....the channels themselves can be manned and run by volunteers.....". <BR>
People don't man and run television channels. Local stations using the newly-available channels can be manned and run by volunteers.<BR>
<BR>
4 - And in English, it's "compared with" - not "compared to"!<BR>
<BR>
Ian Hickling<BR>
transplan UK<BR>
<BR>
<BR><BR> <BR>> Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:52:23 +0100<BR>> From: nicky@cmso.co.uk<BR>> To: cma-l@commedia.org.uk<BR>> Subject: [cma-l] Tories call for 81 local TV stations<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> From today's Telegraph:<BR>> <BR>> An ambitious report that looks at how local news can be brought to more <BR>> areas and at a lower cost will be published on Wednesday morning and <BR>> will form the basis of a new Tory consultation on communications.<BR>> <BR>> Among the proposals that Jeremy Hunt, the shadow culture secretary, is <BR>> most keen to see work is that of cheaper news gathering at a local level <BR>> which can be broadcast via new television stations that only reach <BR>> individual communities.<BR>> <BR>> The report has been written by Roger Parry, a media expert and former <BR>> BBC reporter. He highlights how when the switch-over from the analogue <BR>> television signal to digital happens in the next few years Ofcom will be <BR>> able to create 81 new local television channels at little cost.<BR>> <BR>> Mr Parry's 58-page report examines what can be done with that new <BR>> platform. He is recommending that local reporters can combine new <BR>> digital camera technology which is low cost and does not requite several <BR>> people with easier broadcast techniques, to bring news into people's homes.<BR>> <BR>> The channels themselves can be manned and run by volunteers, he suggests.<BR>> <BR>> Mr Parry estimates that it would cost just £1,000-a-hour to produce <BR>> compared to close to £10,000 an hour for some existing local news channels.<BR>> <BR>> The Conservatives are keen to exploit new ways of bringing local news to <BR>> people particularly as cost constraints have started to threaten much of <BR>> the output in many regions of the UK.<BR>> <BR>> Mr Hunt recently said that the old way of covering regional news had failed.<BR>> <BR>> "Why does Birmingham Alabama have 8 local TV stations when Birmingham in <BR>> the UK - four times the size - has none?" he asked.<BR>> <BR>> "In America even much smaller cities have not one but a whole clutch of <BR>> local news channels, greatly enhancing both a sense of community and <BR>> vibrant local democracy. None have access to a licence fee. So instead <BR>> of putting yet more burden on taxpayers why is the government not <BR>> embracing a digital-era version of syndicated local TV, something that <BR>> could also prove to be a lifeline for our local newspaper industry?"<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/5828314/Tories-call-for-American-style-local-news-channels.html<BR>> -- <BR>> <BR>> CM Solutions<BR>> Supporting Community Media<BR>> <BR>> The Workstation<BR>> Paternoster Row<BR>> Sheffield<BR>> S1 2BX<BR>> <BR>> tel 0114 220 1426<BR>> www.cmso.co.uk<BR>> _______________________________________________<BR>> <BR>> cma-l mailing list - cma-l@commedia.org.uk<BR>> <BR>> Community Media Association - www.commedia.org.uk<BR>> _______________________________________________<BR>> <BR>> To manage your mailing list subscription please visit:<BR>> http://mailman.commedia.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/cma-l<BR></body>
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