Issued on behalf of the Independently Funded News Consortia
pilot Selection Panel
Eight consortia have been successful in the first phase of
the selection process for Independently Funded News Consortia
(IFNC) pilots. An expert panel is selecting a preferred bidder for
pilots taking place in Wales, Scotland, and the Tyne Tees/Border
region in England and will now invite the eight successful
consortia to move forward into detailed dialogue.
Three bids in Wales, two bids in Scotland and three bids in the
Tyne Tees/Borders region met the published evaluation criteria and
will now go through to the next stage of the procurement process.
They are:
Wales
ITN with Newsquest, Northcliffe Media, Tindle, Boomerang and ITV
Wales news staff;Tinopolis; UTV with NWN Media Ltd.
Scotland
Johnston Press with the Herald and Times Group, Tinopolis, and D
C Thomson; STV with ITN and Bauer Radio
Tyne Tees/Borders
ITN with Johnston Press, Newsquest, Metro Radio, University of
Sunderland and ITV Tyne Tees and Borders news staff;Trinity Mirror
with the Press Association and Ten Alps; UTV.
The announcement follows the first meeting of the independent
selection panel, chaired by Richard Hooper, which assessed 13 bids
against a pre-agreed selection criteria.
Richard Hooper said:
“Let me be clear about what we are looking for: quality news
reporting with a mix of local, regional and national (in the case
of Wales and Scotland) audiences firmly in mind; genuine
innovation, not just business as usual; strong multiplatform
applications working together across the web, local newspapers,
local radio and television where appropriate, utilising each
different medium’s special characteristics; and finally, a revenue
generation model that aspires to longer term sustainability.”
IFNCs were a commitment of the Digital Britain White Paper
published on 16 June 2009. The Digital Economy Bill, introduced
last November contains clauses that create new powers for Ofcom to
procure IFNCs from 2013. Ahead of this the Government will run
three pilot IFNCs. The selection of the three pilot IFNC commenced
on 26 November 2009 with the issue of a Pre-Qualification
Questionnaire. The Invitation to Participate in Dialogue will be
issued formally to the eight successful bidders on 14 January
2010.
Notes to Editors
1. The panel is chaired by Richard Hooper CBE. The other
panel members are Fru Hazlitt, Val Atkinson, Glyn Mathias, William
Perrin and Marc Reeves. Stewart Purvis is acting as an advisor to
the panel. More information about IFNCs along with biographies of
the panel members can be found at: http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/6549.aspx
2. Details of the procurement process are published here: http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/process_for_selection_of_providers.pdf
The evaluation criteria for the pre-qualification
questionnaires were:
Overall cost and value for money Management strength and
processes (inc. consortium working, staff management) Depth and
breadth of the service offered Relevance to and understanding of
regional issues, culture and opportunities Strength and
credibility of the proposal for delivery including aspects such
as: Journalistic / news gathering Creativity and innovation
Multi-platform approach Technical management
Contacts:
DCMS Press Enquiries and Out of hours telephone pager
Phone:
020 7211 6263
Mobile: 07699 751153
NDS.DCMS@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Emma Marsh.
Phone: 020 72116271
emma.marsh@culture.gsi.gov.uk