Saddleworth Richard Jones
Saddleworth News' Richard Jones with students at Oldham College

A former Sky News journalist has teamed up with a local college for a new hyperlocal "web TV" project.

Richard Jones, who is editor of hyperlocal news site Saddleworth News, will produce the monthly news programme with students from Oldham College.

The programme is produced at the college's studios and anchored by one of the students, but also features reporting by Jones. It will be broadcast on the Saddleworth News site, which was launched by Jones in February after he moved to the area and hosted a series of interviews with prospective parliamentary candidates in the build-up to the general election in May.

"Giving the students the opportunity to work with industry professionals is fantastic. It gives the courses we deliver far more relevance. It's one thing to make a student film to be watched by your peers but it's another when a wider community audience will watch what you have made and will be critical of the work if it is not of a professional standard," says John Eccles, head of the media department at the college, in a release.

The first programme, which has gone live today, focuses on new businesses that have recently opened in the area and the election court case of Labour MP Phil Woolas.

"We don't yet know what the future of journalism is going to look like, but I think this sort of multimedia coverage of local events is going to become more common. If traditional media companies are unwilling or unable to offer this kind of service, then partnerships between local people and colleges could be one solution," says Jones.

"As someone with many years of experience in TV and radio, I've already been impressed by the quality of the reports being produced by the students. I'm looking forward to working with them in the months ahead."

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).