REVISED plans to cut STV services in the north of Scotland will still be bad for journalism, union leaders warned today.

National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Scotland organiser Nick McGowan-Lowe criticised the broadcaster’s “watered down” proposals.

“After months of trying to ignore public and political pressure, STV’s revised plans finally recognise the importance of the STV North edition of the News At 6,” he said. 

“These watered-down proposals will be cold comfort for viewers in the north of Scotland or for some of STV News’s best known faces who are currently facing potential redundancy.”

The reworked proposals have been published just over a week after workers voted for strike action over STV’s announcement that it would replace Central Belt and north of Scotland news programmes with a single show made in Glasgow.

The broadcaster has since partly backtracked, saying there would be a new STV News At 6 show, with 30 per cent of the content dedicated to those areas.

News-gathering operations would continue across Aberdeen, Inverness, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee, STV stressed.

Nonetheless, union leaders have condemned the new proposals.

“The NUJ opposes these new plans, which are bad for viewers, bad for advertisers, bad for journalism and bad for the STV brand,” Mr McGowan-Lowe said.

STV chief executive Rufus Radcliffe defended the cuts, saying: “Businesses cannot stand still when their industry is changing and when consumers are changing their behaviour fundamentally and at pace.”

Broadcasting regulator Ofcom has launched a consultation but has previously indicated it would accept STV’s requests to make changes to its licence for the north and central Scotland.

SNP MP for Aberdeen North Kirsty Blackman said: “STV chiefs must reverse their plot to destroy their regionalised news programme.”