Two former Newcastle NBN presenters have expressed great concern about the future of regional television news.
NBN News will be cut from one hour to 30 minutes from 29 June, while weekend bulletins are set to go altogether.
Ex-NBN journalist and frontman John Church described the decision as devastating and questioned the logic of reducing one of the region’s most successful television products.
“NBN for decades has been a window to our community and the glue that holds the community together,” he said.
Mr Church, who worked at NBN from 1982 to 2007, said generations of Novocastrians had relied on NBN to stay informed about major events, community issues, local sport and civic developments.
“We watch the same news and the same stories,” Mr Church told the Newcastle Weekly.
“When you diminish that, you make it harder for communities to work together and they become fragmented.”
Former NBN sports presenter and promotions manager Mike Rabbitt echoed those sentiments and said NBN had always been much more than a television station.
“NBN Television was one of the first in Australia to go to a one-hour news bulletin and one of the first to have a two-presenter news service,” he said.
“They set the benchmark regarding news for such a long time and it’s just a shame that it has come to this.”
Mr Rabbitt spent more than 30 years at the station and said he was not surprised by the decision following WIN’s acquisition of NBN.
“It was very much a community station,” he said.
“You were part of a parcel of the local community everywhere you went.”
Both men also raised concerns about what the changes could mean for regional journalism.
Mr Church said strong local media was essential to holding decision-makers accountable and warned that longer-term investigations could become harder to produce if resources were reduced.
“When that disappears, then the quality of our democracy declines,” he said.
Mr Rabbitt said NBN had provided an important pathway for young journalists entering the industry, too, and feared opportunities could become more limited in the future.
He also expressed trepidation for staff affected by the changes, particularly those involved in weekend news production.
The pair acknowledged NBN would continue producing local news under the new format.
However, they questioned whether a shorter bulletin could maintain the same level of coverage that audiences had come to expect.
“What is being proposed is a very pale version of what regional television was and what regional television could be,” Mr Church said.
WIN Network defended the changes and said it remained committed to regional journalism.
“The WIN Network currently invests more in regional news across Australia than any other broadcaster,” a spokesperson said.
“Following the acquisition of NBN Television, it’s ongoing commitment to providing a voice for regional communities will continue.”
The company said a new state-of-the-art control room would soon be built at NBN’s Newcastle studio.
WIN added the new 30-minute bulletin would focus exclusively on local news, sport and weather, replacing the current format which also includes national and international stories.
Despite those assurances, Mr Church believes something important is being lost.
“I’m grieving for the station,” he said
“I’m grieving for the staff.
“There will be consequences not just for Newcastle, but for all of northern NSW.”
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