A union boss has accused STV of financial mismanagement over its plan to axe its Aberdeen news programme and 60 jobs while spending £500,000 on a new radio station.
STV last month revealed it plans to merge its news coverage to run only one programme - from Glasgow - following a £200,000 loss in the first half of 2025.
It's a decision first minister John Swinney has since branded "absurd", while Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce chief executive Russell Borthwick warned it risks "silencing the voice of the North-east at a critical time”.
Now, the BBC reports, Nick McGowan-Lowe, national organiser for Scotland at the National Union of Journalists, has accused STV of financial mismanagement and labelled the plans "cultural vandalism".
Speaking to MSPs and Holyrood's culture committee, Mr McGowan-Lowe said the decision appeared to be a "panicked" one.
He added: "This does not give the impression of a company who is thinking long term.
"They're doing a knee-jerk reaction and what they are proposing is going to have a catastrophic effect on local democracy and the culture of the North-east if it is allowed to go through."
It comes as STV invests in a new radio station, which Mr McGowan-Lowe likened to "buying a sports car and then trying to pay less on the mortgage to afford it".
He added that he was "astonished" STV was not reviewing its plans for a radio station.