NUJ Nottingham Branch Statement: closure of Notts TV
The Nottingham branch of the National Union of Journalists is deeply concerned by the news that Notts TV will cease broadcasting later this year.
The decision by Nottingham Trent University (NTU) - Notts TV’s primary owner and funder - not to renew the channel’s license to broadcast from November 2025 raises a number of serious concerns which must be addressed.
Notts TV performs a vital democratic function, holding local government and other public bodies in Nottinghamshire to account. It scrutinises local politicians, on behalf of the people they are meant to represent and serve. It gives a voice to the voiceless.
It is also an invaluable centre of learning, training, and work experience for those members of the next generation of journalists drawn to Nottingham by the chance of gaining real experience in a professional broadcast environment.
When a city loses an important media outlet dedicated to fighting for local people, everybody loses out. The level of scrutiny on local government falls, court cases go unreported, matters of local concern and interest never reach the public’s attention, and local campaigns - such as the current fight for the victims of the NUH maternity scandal - get lost in the shadows.
The Nottingham branch of the NUJ will be discussing NTU’s decision internally, and will be pressing the university for answers over a number of key questions.
We are concerned both by the significant shrinkage in local journalism that will be an inevitable consequence of their decision, and by the sharp drop off in the quality and quantity of training and work experience opportunities future NTU journalism students will have access to.
We are also concerned about the consequences of the closure of Notts TV for the future of the Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) scheme. The strength of the LDR scheme is based on having a healthy plurality of local media outlets available to deliver this important democratic service.
None of these things is good for Nottingham, nor for the future of journalism.
Ben Cooper, chair of the Nottingham branch