Future of local news report is a grim read
Social media has replaced local news in communities across the UK. It is weakening community engagement and participation in local democracy.
The collapse of local news is a crisis that has played out in plain sight over the past two decades. Local News Deserts in the UK (opens as a PDF) finds that it is contributing to weakening community engagement and participation in local democracy.
The Charitable Journalism Project studied seven regional communities in England and Wales through a mix of interviews and focus groups. These included: Barrow-in-Furness, Corby, Haverfordwest, Lewisham, Tiverton and Cullompton, Trowbridge, and Whitby.
Local news has faced an assault on two fronts. Advertising has shifted to internet mediated platforms such as Google and Facebook, and print sales have declined. Neither has been replaced by a sustainable model.
The result is a hollowing out of newsrooms, mergers, and closures. The number of journalists has fallen by a quarter from 23,000 in 2007, to 17,000 in 2018.
It has given rise to so-called ghost newspapers produced by groups such as Newsquest and Reach. These are digital first publications with the same content distributed to multiple websites.
Reach’s Devon Live amalgamates a string of titles in the area with sections for Tiverton, Crediton and Cullompton, the towns formerly covered by separate editions of the Mid Devon Gazette.
The audience for regional news has shifted to social media, notably Facebook. This lacks the ethics, rigour, and standards of an editorial environment.
The 40-page report spotlights six main findings about the future of the local news landscape.
1. Social media dominates local news and information
Facebook pages and groups have filled the space left by local news publications in each of the areas that were studied. Most local institutions, including local government, local police, and local businesses, operate a page. The page’s creator or community manager has complete authority over who and what may be posted on the page.
2. Social Media can cause local polarisation and be a source of misinformation
Respondents to the Charitable Journalism Project reported that social media exacerbated social division. The lack of verification means that social media posts can be a source of local misinformation. Rumours are commonplace. The lack of professional journalism combined with unverified information on social media to create confusion and suspicion.
3. Local newspapers aren’t recognised as community assets
Historically a local newspaper has been integrated into its community. Journalists traditionally reported on personal news that contributed to strong community cohesion such as births, deaths, and marriages. The role of local newspapers in supporting communities through collective trauma has also gone and has been replaced with commercialised and, on occasion, damaging and divisive reporting.
4. Tackling local news deserts
Respondents viewed coverage of local government activities as inadequate. However, in cases where a Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) is active the coverage of local government was singled out as good. LDRs are funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector, with content syndicated to local partners. There are 165 LDR roles across the UK covering every top-tier local authority area. The scheme was set up in 2017 to help address the loss of local media.
5. Apathy and democratic disenchantment
Apathy and lack of interest in local democracy was found to be widespread among respondents. When asked if sufficient information was available about local politics, respondents criticised both communication from councils and its coverage in the local press. Furthermore, recent efforts at renewal through local government reorganisation were not matched with grassroots interest or support.
6. Local news for local people
Researchers report that the closure of a local newspaper office correlates to the loss of relevance of a title within the community. Respondents wanted more positive, community supportive news stories. This was associated with the role those local newspapers used to play, and in some cases, respondents said hyperlocal media helped to fill the role.
The issue at the heart of the Local News Deserts in the UK report that remains unanswered is the funding of local news. LDRs go some way to supporting democracy but are not a replacement for news media at the heart of a community. If your organisation is reliant on the local media my suggestion would be either to create your own social media page or seek out other relevant pages.
