Death of local newspapers: blogging opportunity
By Gareth Powell
Local newspapers are dying partly because of the Internet.
There are two schools of thought. The first believes that few newspapers will survive the coming three years. The second believes this is true with some rare exceptions — Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Australian Financial Review and so on, all of which will have to raise their cover prices. PLUS, they hope against hope, all evidence to the contrary, the local newspapers will survive.
In Britain, where they are still a major force in the community, Lord Carter, communications minister and former boss of Ofcom, has launched a Digital Britain where he believes public service journalism will flourish against all the odds. (You need to know that Ofcom is The Office of Communications — in Welsh, which is important, that is Y Swyddfa Gyfathrebiadau — is the independent regulator and competition authority for the communication industries in the United Kingdom. )
Ed Richards, who has replaced Lord Carter at Ofcom, demands vibrant Web and broadcast competition for regional and local news. Which he thinks will die.
Good on them both.
At the moment Britain is effectively local newspaper heaven. There are 12,000 journalists (quality uneven) and 1,300 regional and local newspapers. They leave broadcasting’s legions standing.
But they are also in deep strife.
Trinity Mirror, one of the big players, has shut down 44 since the recession began and there a lot more happening on almost daily basis.The basis of news-gathering itself is under acute strain, with entire communities stripped of the means of communication that in many ways defines them.
These figures are according to The Guardian which tends to get it right.
A simple local newspaper in the countryside of West Sussex like, say, The Storrington Times is not going to survive. (The Sussex Times, which is much bigger, may, although this is doubtful.)
Yet these newspapers help to provide the facts (not important to you but desperately important to the locals) that, in a sense, sustain the local community.
Take away really local news — about your village, your town, your city — and broadcasting, narrowcasting if you like, cannot bridge the gap.
Lord Carter is serious about public service news and he is locked into the idea that broadcasting, not websites, will do the trick.
And that might happen with the BBC (the quite, quite brilliant broadcasting company, but it is ducking broadcasting at this level and has expansion plans for local websites.
What is the answer? No one knows. And although here we have focused on small area like Sussex it is a worldwide problem.
Politicians understand the importance of local papers. It’s where their existence is chronicled for their voters. They don’t easily countenance a world without print. They know that Internet blogs on the subject tend to be very rude.
A nationwide local news network of consenting regionals (Ofcom has suggested it) will cost megabucks and will not fly.
The answer, much to the disgust of the politicians, will be the Internet.
As one outraged councilor in Storrington said to this reporter: ‘But the damned blighters can’t even spell my name right.’
But they can tell the truth, and that is worrying politicians all over the world.
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January 25th, 2009
The 24/7 cable news channels also had an effect, at least here in the States. The only time I watch the local stations is for uncompressed HD.