Local newspaper week: when's the funeral?

If you surveyed editors of a certain age, most of them would probably say that there is no substitute for training on a local newspaper, that the regional press is the backbone of the media in this country and that local newspapers are at the heart of their communities.

These are the kind of people that I met at the National Union of Journalists conference last month, where the internet was talked about as a 'threat' and as the cause of falling newspaper sales.

I find this point of view infuriating. It's typical of the kind of old school mindset that is holding newspaper publishers back.

Most of my friends have fairly established jobs, are buying their own homes, starting families and are generally very internet savvy.

Not one person I know outside the industry buys local newspapers

If we want to find property or jobs, we go online. If we want community news we go online. But community news means something different - our communities are online, linked more by our interests and professions than by where we live.

A print model inhibits innovation online

With obvious exceptions, news organisations have, in general, been quite cautious in launching their online propositions. That is understandable, given the model for newspaper advertising on which they depend.

But without question, the most successful web businesses - Google, Amazon, eBay - have been those that were developed solely for the internet.

Basing a news website on a print newspaper format is a restriction, and one that inhibits the innovative design, usability and interactive potential of a web publication. You wouldn't base a print publication on the format of a website, so why structure a website in newspaper format?

It's also no coincidence that the best news website in the world - BBC News - is run for public service rather than profit, which I think explains why the site has a reputation for creativity and innovation. (The quality of this site makes the recent job cuts at the corporation even more shameful.)

The only way for newspapers to really push into the online space is to throw caution to the wind. It will cost, but if you can produce quality content under a recognised brand name and be really innovative and experimental with your site, eventually you should be rewarded.

Losing out to citizen journalism

Local newspapers seem particularly unwilling to take this risk. You only have to look at US developments like the Greensboro News and Record to see the way that local newspapers will have to evolve. There is a need for quality local community news online, but most papers in the UK are nowhere near ready for that. If they don't move into the citizen journalism space soon, someone else will.

Newspaper format has barely changed for hundreds of years. Relaunch usually means little more than a different typeface, a few less photos and a bit more colour - so perhaps the mammoth challenge of the internet is just too much for news bosses to deal with. Better to bury their heads in the sand - or churn out a half-hearted effort - than actually try to tackle the mammoth head on.

I have yet to see one local newspaper site in the UK that is really making an impression online. I don't doubt that there are some very dedicated people in local newspapers who recognise the importance of the internet and want to make changes, but I suspect they are having big problems getting the decision-makers to see the light.

That's just scratching the surface. But it's my contribution to Local Newspaper Week.

Comments? Email me.

Comments

From Craig McGinty, 09:42 20 May 2005

So with you on this one.

One of the reasons I jumped from one of the most popular local newspaper sites in the country was because the 'bosses' wanted me to sub stories down to a few pars before placing them online.

This was for a site with close on 2.5 million page impressions a month, and rising.

I thought it was showing complete disrespect for the site's readers and just pulled the plug on any new innovations or ideas that the small digital media team that ran the site would want to do.

It is clear that if newspapers don't change there are those who are already beginning to make moves into community-based news sites that will slowly draw away advertising pennies.

From Anon, 12:00 20 May 2005

Great article, all local newspaper editors should be made to read it every day.

I too left a successful local newspaper website because of the 'falling paper sales' argument.

I was not suprised to find that paper sales haven't improved since the site started to publish subbed down stories at the end of the day.

No content = no advertising.

From Kye Parsons, 13:50, 20 May 2005

This is Kye Parsons in Salisbury, Maryland, USA. I'm responsible for my TV station's website: www.wboc.com. Anyway, I read your article and it is sad but true. In America newspaper circulation continues to decline and unfortunately, local newspapers are taking the hits. Big corporations like Gannett have bought blocks of local newspapers. Then when circulation numbers start to decline, they merge two of the nearby local papers into one. That's what happened recently to a couple small newspapers in my area. Two weekly broadsheet newspapers were merged into one tabloid weekly.

I am a former newspaper editor and have worked at both weekly and daily papers. I enjoyed newspaper work but even the paper I was editor of was closed down by the company I worked for - after more than 130 years.

Anyway, I'm a news manager at my TV station and we naturally reach a lot more people so I'm happy where I am. Our website receives a lot of hits so you're right, the web is the way to go.

From David Syme, 12:36 25 May 2005

Journalists should see the web as a tool. As simple as that. That tool can be used to benefit newspapers or to cause them problems. Some newspaper managements do not realise the benefits the web can bring to their newspapers And some web journalists do not understand the problems web newspapers can cause the paper kind.

Newspaper managements should use the web to attract readers. The website should see subbed down versions of the main newspaper followed by heavy selling of the full story in the newspaper.

The newspaper should carry stories about the web and put valued added material on their website to be accessed by a password contained in the newspaper. That might drive readers back to paper news.

Web journalists might be able to say that they had two million page impressions - but how much money does that put into a newspaper's coffers followed by convertion into journalists jobs?

The web page of a regional newspaper must be seen to be supportive of the paper and not an ego trip for web journalists. Sadly many web journalists and newspaper managements do not appreciate this.

From Laura-Jane Filotrani, 11:56 6 June 2005

I read your comments with interest but I have to disagree really. I think there is a place for local newspapers. While you cite your friends as examples to show that few people buy a local I wonder whether you are being a little narrow in your field of vision. And whether your friends are representative of a large enough section of the population to warrant such a statement.

I take on board your points about the future in terms of the internet - but at the moment there is still a vast number of people who are not interested in surfing the net for news. The quickest way to find flats to let, or buy or agents to contact, local names, local events etc etc etc is still via the local press.

The net can seem impersonal and infinite which is off-putting to some. The local paper on the other hand is contained and finite. There are actual people that you can speak to and areas for you to comment. The wealth of information that is relayed week after week is always pertinent to the reader and does not require hours of sifting and searching as you would on the net.

Isn't there room for both?

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