ITN extends regional news commitment with second IFNC bid

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ITN will bid for at least two of the three planned regional pilots for the government's independently funded news consortia (IFNC), an announcement today has confirmed.

ITN will partner Johnston Press, Newsquest, Metro Radio and the University of Sunderland in its application for the Border and Tyne Tees pilot of the IFNC scheme, which will form a replacement service for ITV's regional news network, which will no longer run as a result of an estimated £38-£64 million deficit.

The announcement follows yesterday's launch of a joint bid between ITN, ITV, Northcliffe, Newsquest and Tindle for the separate IFNC pilot in Wales .

Today's proposal by ITN and its partners would bring together a number of newspapers and radio stations in the area and work with existing ITV news staff in the region.

ITN's group will be in competition for the Border and Tyne Tees pilot with UTV, who also announced its tender for the regional trial this week , and a consortium including the Press Association, Trinity Mirror and production company Ten Alps .

An additional pilot scheme is planned for Scotland.

"This consortium offers a tremendous opportunity to create a whole new approach to local newsgathering. Johnston Press boasts an army of journalists on the ground, embedded at a grass-roots level and very much part of their communities. We look forward to playing a central role in this new era for local news to best serve readers, surfers and viewers in the area," says John Fry, chief executive of Johnston Press, in a press release from ITN confirming the Tyne Tees bid . Speaking at a Westminster Media Forum event in October, chief executive John Hardie described ITN's involvement in the consortia bids as part of "a grand alliance" between local media groups: "Now is the time to create an entirely new service for the digital age. We will seek to form an unprecedented network of partnerships.

"Our virtual news network will bring an unrivalled breadth and depth of reporting for local audiences."

Media groups interested in bidding for the IFNC pilots have until 30 December to submit a final "pre-qualification questionnaire" for the scheme. Ofcom will select up to four organisations for each pilot to go through to the next stage of assessment with the successful bids announced in late March.