Johnston Press, UTV, Trinity Mirror and the Press Association have had their bids to run pilots of the independently funded news consortia (IFNC) in Scotland, Wales and the Tyne Tees and Border region approved by the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS).

The IFNC pilot scheme, which will receive £47 million in government funding, will seek to replace the existing local regional coverage provided by ITV and STV.

ITV, which was involved in a bid with Northcliffe, Newsquest and Tindle Newspapers for the Wales pilot, did not have its bid approved.

Johnston Press was named as one of the preferred bidders for the Scottish pilot, as part of a joint proposal from the publisher, the Herald and Times Group, DC Thomson and independent TV production company Tinopolis.

Renamed as the Scottish News Consortium, the group's bid was praised for its "imaginative and innovative cross-platform approach to news provision: with its planned website, which will act as a portal to 130 local newspaper partner websites, highlighted as "a credible alternative to the BBC".

In Wales, UTV and regional and local newspaper publisher NWN Media had their Wales Live bid, which was described as a model for "a harder-edged TV news programme", approved; while a partnership between Trinity Mirror, the Press Association and independent TV production company Ten Alps was given the nod in the Tyne Tees and Border region.

"In Wales and Scotland, in addition to strong proposals for regional, local and hyperlocal/community news, the bidders put forward credible ideas for quality news for those nations which is urgently needed as a result of devolution. We asked for innovation and were not disappointed. We asked bidders also to think about longer term sustainability without public funds. Given the political uncertainties surrounding IFNCs, my colleagues and I were particularly impressed by the sustained enthusiasm and resource commitment of the bidders and the momentum that has built up to deliver innovative multi-platform multi-layered news in Wales, Scotland and the Borders/Tyne Tees region of England, competing with the BBC," chair of the independent selection panel Richard Hooper says in a statement from DCMS.

Contract discussions will continue after a 10-day 'standstill' period. STV, ITN and Bauer in Scotland; Tinopolis in Wales; and ITN, with Johnston Press, Newsquest, Bauer Media and the University of Sunderland in the Tyne Tees and Border region, were named as reserve bidders.

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