THE Scottish Government should establish the Scottish Digital Network recommendation of five years ago from its own broadcasting commission – according to evidence to be given to a House of Lords committee tomorrow, on media plurality.
Robert Beveridge is scheduled to be joined by, among others, Ashley Highfield, the chief executive of Johnston Press, the publisher of The Scotsman and several Scots local newspapers. And he is expected to be interrogated specifically about media plurality in Scotland.
The former Edinburgh Napier University academic is now, among other things, a Visiting Professor at the University of Sassari, Sardinia.
And he is expected to tomorrow call for the creation of the Scottish Digital Network, a TV channel dedicated to Scots content.
At the time of its recommendation, the Scottish Digital Network proposal received unanimous support in the Scottish Parliament. But thus far, budget has not been made available, either in Scotland or from Westminster, for its establishment.
Beveridge is also expected to call on broadcasting regulators, Ofcom, to pressure Channel 4 to “increase its diversity and plurality by and from the Scots production sector”.
