A regional daily editor has lamented the loss of a local TV station on her patch as a “blow for local journalism.”

Independent local TV station Notts TV is to close down after more than a decade on air after its university funders pulled the plug.

Nottingham Trent University, which runs the local news channel, has confirmed it will not be seeking to renew its licence when it expires in November.

It means the channel will close down at that point unless another organisation decides to take on the licence.

Nottingham Post and Nottinghamshire Live editor Natalie Fahy, pictured, lamented the station’s demise even though it is a competitor to her titles.

“You may think I’d be celebrating the loss of a competitor. But it doesn’t work like that. The local media ecosystem is a poorer place without Notts TV,” she wrote.

“With the number of jobs shrinking across the board, no journalist out there would take pleasure in seeing yet another outlet close down.”

The National Union of Journalists has also voiced deep concern over the move, saying Notts TV – which hosts the local democracy reporting service in the city – performs “a vital democratic function.”

Confirmation of the move came in a notice to colleagues from the university’s vice-chancellor Prof Edward Peck who said its investment in the channel had not delivered sufficient benefit to students.

“Whilst students who have had placements with Notts TV have gained significant real work experience, the numbers involved have been too small to warrant continued investment,” he said.

Interim chairman of Notts TV and former Nottingham Post editor Mike Sassi said the channel looked forward to “bringing you the best of what we do over the next few months” and thanked its supporters.

Mike, pictured, said: “We’re incredibly proud of everything Notts TV has achieved over the last decade. We’ve also helped to launch hundreds of careers in media across Britain and beyond with our industry training, and held power to account by hosting the BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service.”

Ben Cooper, chair of the Nottingham branch of the NUJ, said the branch was “deeply concerned” by the news.

He said: “Notts TV performs a vital democratic function, holding local government and other public bodies in Nottinghamshire to account. It scrutinises local politicians, on behalf of the people they are meant to represent and serve. It gives a voice to the voiceless.

“It is also an invaluable centre of learning, training, and work experience for those members of the next generation of journalists drawn to Nottingham by the chance of gaining real experience in a professional broadcast environment.

“When a city loses an important media outlet dedicated to fighting for local people, everybody loses out. The level of scrutiny on local government falls, court cases go unreported, matters of local concern and interest never reach the public’s attention, and local campaigns – such as the current fight for the victims of the NUH maternity scandal – get lost in the shadows.

“The Nottingham branch of the NUJ will be discussing NTU’s decision internally, and will be pressing the university for answers over a number of key questions.

“We are concerned both by the significant shrinkage in local journalism that will be an inevitable consequence of their decision, and by the sharp drop off in the quality and quantity of training and work experience opportunities future NTU journalism students will have access to.

“We are also concerned about the consequences of the closure of Notts TV for the future of the Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) scheme. The strength of the LDR scheme is based on having a healthy plurality of local media outlets available to deliver this important democratic service.

“None of these things is good for Nottingham, nor for the future of journalism.”

In an editorial, Natalie lamented the demise of the station, calling it “a blow for local journalism – and the city of Nottingham.”

She wrote: “I’ve worked closely with Notts TV since its inception and know lots of the staff there. The kind of opportunities it can offer for journalism students on the “Notts TV pathway” at NTU are unrivalled and I’ve hired many of its graduates myself. Where else could students work on a live TV station like this?

“You may think I’d be celebrating the loss of a competitor. But it doesn’t work like that. The local media ecosystem is a poorer place without Notts TV. We each brought something different for audiences but we found much common ground.

“Over the years, we’ve worked on several projects together – most recently a hustings event for the East Midlands Mayoral elections which was screened on Notts TV and our Facebook pages and featured on our website and in print. Our photographer also provided imagery for the post-event publicity.

“Nottinghamshire Live used to have a daily slot on the news show where we would talk about the biggest stories of the day. This personally gave me experience of live and pre-recorded television, something I would later go on to do fairly regularly in my role as editor on much bigger channels.

“It’s been a breeding ground for many great journalists who have gone on to different jobs and that sort of environment is important in our industry.

“With the number of jobs shrinking across the board, no journalist out there would take pleasure in seeing yet another outlet close down.

“The more voices out there in the media, the more choice the audience has, the better.”