APPLICATIONS are being sought to operate local TV stations for the Scots towns and cities of Aberdeen, Ayr, Dundee, Forth Valley and Inverness.
The quintet are among seven local TV licences being offered by broadcasting regulators, Ofcom, the other two being Carlisle and Stoke-on-Trent.
The first local TV channel to launch in Scotland under the present Ofcom scheme began broadcasting last month, serving Glasgow and the west of Scotland.
Read more, here.
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DID he or didn’t he say what he is supposed to have said?
Among the widespread coverage of what Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt, might have uttered about the Commonwealth Games to Katie Gibbons, the Edinburgh-based reporter on The Times, The Herald includes (here) a transcript of the alleged exchange between the two.
Adds The Guardian (here): The Times published a 70-word transcript of the conversation in [today’s] paper. The paper’s Scottish editor, Angus Macleod, said he had full confidence in Gibbons, adding: ‘We stand by this story 100 per cent. We have utter confidence in this story.’ As Bolt passed Gibbons at the netball mixed zone [yesterday], she shouted to him: ‘Why did you deny what you said to me yesterday?’ Bolt didn’t appear to hear – or didn’t want to hear. His response to a question about what he thought of the Games consisted of one word: ‘Awesome.'”
The original Times story can be viewed here.
Bolt and his representatives contest the allegation, including on twitter, here.
The Times Scotland continues its reporting of the story on the top of page one today, continued on page four.
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BEGINS The Scotsman (here, under the heading, ‘BBC strike may disrupt coverage of referendum’): “The BBC is facing a fresh threat of strikes in a row with journalists and technical staff over job losses.
“Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and [fellow trade union] Bectu are to be balloted for industrial action after the Corporation announced plans to axe 415 posts to save £48 million a year by 2016/17, although the cuts will be offset by some new roles.
“The NUJ called off a strike (noted here on allmediascotland.com) over pay planned to coincide with the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games last week, but the union warned that action over jobs could hit coverage of the Scottish referendum, Last Night Of The Proms and the party political conferences.”
Read the NUJ’s decision to ballot, on it website, here.
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BEGINS the Daily Record: “The Daily Record’s campaign to get Scotland’s one million missing voters signed up for the independence referendum has won a surge of support on social media.
“We are trying to encourage the missing million to secure their vote and have their say on the future of our country.”
Read more, here.
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UPCOMING deadlines for applications re job vacancies advertised on allmediascotland.com:
Today: senior reporter post at The Oban Times (here);
Today: PR account manager or director at Muckle Media (here);
Sunday: Internal comms officer, University of Glasgow (here);
Monday: Marketing and events officer, North Ayrshire Council (here);
Monday: Communications officer (two-year posting), North Ayrshire Council (here); and
Monday: Communications officer (permanent posting), North Ayrshire Council (here).
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BBC Radio Scotland has seen its latest listening figures increase by just under one per cent on the corresponding period 12 months previously.
Says the radio listening auditing body, RAJAR, the station’s ‘reach’ between the second quarter (April-June) of last year and the same period this year was up 0.7 per cent, from an average 948,000 listeners to 955,000.
‘Reach’ is defined as an adult, aged at least 15, having tuned into a station for at least five minutes during an average week.
In a media statement issued by the BBC, BBC Radio Scotland head, Jeff Zycinski, is quoted, as saying: “This is a terrific success story for BBC Radio in Scotland and comes as huge encouragement at a time when we are collaborating with so many of the BBC radio networks during the Commonwealth Games.
“It does feel like a golden era for BBC Radio in Scotland and, with almost a million listeners a week, it was a particularly athletic performance from BBC Radio Scotland.”
Check out the RAJARs for all of Scotland’s main radio stations, here.
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