WIN scraps regional news bulletin
Update, 5.15pm: WIN TV will scrap its regional bulletins and close its Broome, Geraldton and Albany regional news bureaus.
Cutbacks will also be made its remaining Bunbury and Kalgoorlie newsrooms.
About 15 staff are expected to be affected by the closures, which were revealed today.
Matt Tinney will present a new-look bulletin from the WIN Network's Perth studios in Dianella. The 4.30pm news starts on Wednesday.
WIN issued a statement saying it would rely on freelance video journalists to cover its former regional rounds.
The Bunbury newsroom will be cut from two to one video journalist, while a video journalist will remain at the Kalgoorlie office.
On Twitter, Bunbury-based journalist Wade Dobson described the decision as “a sad day for myself and the rest of the WIN News WA crew”.
WIN colleague Candace Barnes tweeted: “We all did the best we could.”
The new half-hour WIN News bulletin will be on weekdays, with Nine News shown across the state at 6pm.
“This bulletin will lay the foundations for long term success and is a major step forward for the development of Nine News in WA,” WIN news director Stewart Richmond said in a statement.
Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance WA president Martin Turner said the move was a loss to regional communities.
“It’s a pity for media diversity in general in the State, in particular for those regional communities who need some decent and thorough local content,” he said.
“We’ve got a vast State and every region deserves as comprehensive a media environment as possible.”
Mr Turner said he could only speculate the move was made to cut costs.
But he said WIN’s operations – which used “video jockeys” to report and do their own camera work – were already low-cost.
“It seems as though they couldn’t have got more efficient than they are now, they are using relatively young staff members and using technology you wouldn’t expect is costing a fortune.”
Australian Journalists’ Association WA president Martin Turner said the impending closures were “a worry”.
“My understanding is they get a lot of work and efficiency out of their staff who go above and beyond to get their stories, so it makes you wonder how much more efficient and streamlined these operations can be to deliver their services,” he said.
“It’s disappointing for the regions where the bureaus are being closed because they’ve been crying out for local content and information.”
WA Opposition Leader Mark McGowan said it was “disappointing“ for the state’s regions.
“I know the regions rely upon their news services even more than the city and I know it’s going to be very disappointing for many country people,” he said.
Nine refused to comment on the redundancies.
