The BBC recently launched a nine month long local television pilot in Britain's West Midlands region of Shropshire. "The voice of Britain's regional press", The Newspaper Society, has consitently opposed the BBC's local television initiative, on the grounds that it will have an adverse effect on the local newspaper market. However, not all local newspapers are responding negatively, some have decided to collaborate.

Sarah Jane Smith, editor of the Shropshire Star, said the following about the BBC's project: "Now it is up and running, it is better to get involved than to fight it." She confirmed that her paper had established an agreement with the BBC whereby the paper's letter of the week is made into a news item covered in BBC local TV's news bulletin, with the paper featured on screen.

Smith commented as follows on the collaborative effort: "I feel very comfortable working with them, and it is good practice for journalists." She added that up until now newspapers in the area have had "a bit of a monopoly" and what they need to do is learn about the competition. She feels that collaboration could be a good future for her paper, and others, as well as for the BBC: "If we can work together, it could work for both of us."

Head of the BBC's regional news David Holdsworth said "a willingness to cooperate was evident throughout the West Midlands, where five pilots are under way."

Sources: The Newspaper Society and here, MediaGuardian