Ofcom Research: Local Media is ‘Critical’ to Public Life
As part of its evidence to the government’s consultation on regional and local news, Ofcom has highlighted the importance of local newspapers to society and the high value that is placed upon them by readers, many of whom feel an emotional link with the medium. It also puts some of the challenges facing local newspapers into perspective.
The detailed research study, Local and Regional Media in the UK, was conducted by Ofcom as part of its submission to the DCMS consultation. It found that local newspapers play an “important role” sustaining democracy, are “embedded in people’s lives”, and continue to be highly trusted.
The study states: “We have recognised the critical role that local newspaper journalism plays in delivering public purposes. Local newspaper journalism not only underpins the delivery of local news on other media, but also makes a key contribution to the national news agenda.
“Consumers and citizens value the role local and regional content plays in their lives; local and regional news in particular helps to inform people about what is going on in their local community, while news and other types of local content contribute towards reflecting UK cultural identity and representing diversity and alternative viewpoints.”
Ofcom said they had looked at the threat to local and regional newspapers given the role they play in the wider media ecology.“Structural changes in advertising markets and the impact of the recession have raised concerns around the scale of newspaper closures and job losses affecting local newspapers. Our analysis shows that so far, newspaper closures have been mainly weekly free sheets in highly competitive markets. The majority of redundancies in local newspapers also appear to have been in functions which are not core to newsgathering, such as advertising sales and pre-production.”
It said: “Local and regional newspapers play a particularly important role in informing, representing, campaigning and interrogating and thus underpinning awareness and participation in the democratic process.
“Newspaper journalism is also a crucial part of the local and regional media ecology because it supports journalism on other platforms.”
It continues: “Within the local media ecology, local newspapers are the most trusted source of fair and unbiased local news and information, after regional TV, and closely followed by local radio.
“Many respondents felt an emotional tie with this medium, and considered it essential for those interested in following local politics.
“Respondents were given a description of each service in the context of how it would support the provision of local content. Regional TV and local TV were discussed separately, and respondents allocated their money accordingly.
“The sources that gained most consumer/citizen support were regional TV and local newspapers – these long-established sources of local news are embedded in people’s lives, and this ensured them consistent support.
“Consumer research suggests that the public retains an interest in both crime and council reporting. In addition, more consumers turn to local newspapers as their main weekly source of news on council activities (16 per cent) than to council publications (2 per cent).”
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s ‘Consultation on sustainable, independent and impartial news in the Nations, locally and in the regions’, to which the NS also responded, closed this week.
Ofcom’s submission was launched at a Future of Local Media event in Salford, held jointly by Ofcom and the University of Salford, chaired by writer and broadcaster Steve Hewlett.
Ruth Spratt, MEN Media managing director, Neil Benson, editorial director, Trinity Mirror Regionals and Robert Hardie, Northcliffe Media content strategy director, sat on panels with representatives from other media at the event which was also attended by the NS.
The NS submission to the DCMS consultation welcomes the government’s suggestion that local newspaper publishers could be involved in the Independently Funded News Consortia (IFNC) proposed by the government.
For further information please contact Lynne Anderson on 020 7632 7421 or e-mail lynne_anderson@newspapersoc.org.uk.
September Activity Report
A busy month for the NS has seen continued campaigning on issues such as local authority publications and press freedom issues as well as meetings with various government departments and ministers. Next month, the NS meetings with the BBC and the BBC Trust are scheduled.
Appointments
- Guy Black, Executive Director, Telegraph becomes Chairman of PressBOF
- Andrew McGuiness becomes AA Chairman
- Jonathan Shephard steps down as PPA CEO
- Tim Toulmin steps down as PCC Director
- Simon Fairclough steps down as SNPA Director
- ABC looks for new chairman to succeed John Mayhead
Meetings
- IPF meeting chaired by Geraldine Allinson on 15 September
- NS Marketing Committee chaired by Danny Cammiade on 17 September
- Industry meeting with OFCOM 21 September
- NS meeting with COI on 22 September
- NS meeting with Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on 23 September
- NS meeting with ABC on 24 September
- ENPA meeting in Brussels on 30 September
- PERA meeting chaired by Mark Dodson on 7 October combined with a meeting with OFCOM and BBC Trust
- Midlands Newspaper Society meeting 13 October
- NS meeting with BBC on 14 October
- NS Council meeting on 15 October
Activities
- the wanted ads Recruitment Research in the field
- Campaigns on local authority publications, BBC, responses to Digital Britain and press freedom issues continue
- NS Portfolio Audience project scheduled for major launch in November
- Reforms to JicREG and subscription systems continue
If you require any further information on Society activities visit our website www.newspapersoc.org.uk.
NS Hosts Dinner for Mark Lund
NS president David Fordham hosted a dinner for recently-appointed Central Office of Information chief executive Mark Lund and a number of his colleagues on Tuesday.
Guests were given an overview of developments in the local media industry and an update on NS marketing activities relating to government advertising campaigns. The COI is currently the UK’s largest advertiser.
Mr Lund was accompanied by colleagues including Peter Buchanan, COI deputy chief executive; Mark Cross, communications planning director; Corrine Purton, director of channel integration; and head of media Jeremy Found.
Mr Fordham was joined at the dinner in London by NS marketing committee chairman Danny Cammiade, NS director David Newell, and NS marketing director Robert Ray.
The discussion also looked to build further opportunities to effectively use local media communications to reach audiences for COI advertising campaigns.
For further information please contact Paul Sinker on 020 7632 7424 or e-mail sinkerp@newspapersoc.org.uk.
NS Lunch for Ben Bradshaw
Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw met with publishers and editors from the regional and local media sector at an NS lunch hosted by president David Fordham yesterday.
Issues discussed included regional news consortia, local authority publications, media ownership regulations, and press freedom concerns.
Industry groups represented at the lunch included Archant, Guardian Media Group, Iliffe News & Media, Johnston Press, Kent Messenger Group, Midland News Association, Newsquest Media Group, Northcliffe Media, Tindle Newspapers, and Trinity Mirror.
For further information please contact Santha Rasaiah on 020 7632 7461 or e-mail santha_rasaiah@newspapersoc.org.uk.
Baroness Buscombe Visits Northern Ireland
Baroness Buscombe, the PCC chairman, visited Northern Ireland in the latest in a series of meetings with local media industry publishers around the UK.
Accompanied by PCC director, Tim Toulmin, she was given a tour of the Belfast Telegraph by the newspaper’s new editor Mike Gilson. They also met representatives from other local newspapers for informal discussions around a number of issues currently facing the industry, including the impact of media convergence and financial pressures.
Baroness Buscombe was interviewed on BBC Radio Ulster during the visit. It be can heard here (34 mins in).
For further information please contact Paul Sinker on 020 7632 7424 or e-mail sinkerp@newspapersoc.org.uk.
Andrew McGuinness Appointed Advertising Association Chairman
The Advertising Association has announced that Andrew McGuinness, a partner at ad agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay, will be its new chairman. He succeeds Mark Lund who was recently appointed chief executive of the CoI.
Andrew has held posts at agencies JWT, M&C Saatchi and TBWA\LONDON where he was appointed chief executive in 2002. He left after three years to become a founding partner of Beattie, McGuinness, Bungay.
For further information please contact Paul Sinker on 020 7632 7424 or e-mail sinkerp@newspapersoc.org.uk.
Scaffolder Accused of Cheating Turns to Local Media
Local media was the first port of call for a West Midlands man who wanted to scotch rumours that he had cheated on his wife.
Patrick Byrne's advert
Anxious to refute the allegations, scaffolder Patrick Byrne placed an advert in the Sutton Coldfield News in which he said he had always been faithful to his wife of 24 years.
Patrick told the Sunday Mercury that he believed putting advertising in the newspaper on sale in his hometown was the best way to put the record straight.
“I placed the advert because I was accused of something I did not do,” he said. “It was my way of saying I didn’t do anything wrong.
“The Sutton Coldfield News is our local paper and I thought that would be the best place for it to go.”
After the News had run the ad, Patrick had returned to the family home.
For more information please contact Paul Sinker on 020 7632 7424 or e-mail sinkerp@newspapersoc.org.uk.
NS Continues the wanted ads Core Category Client Presentations
The marketing team of major retailer Matalan received an NS workshop presentation at their head offices in Skelmersdale in Lancashire yesterday on the benefits and developments in local media and its unrivalled reach into Britain’s communities.
The lunchtime presentation by marketing director Robert Ray gave around 20 of their core marketing team a lively and informed overview of the medium, with particular emphasis on one of the NS core category projects, the wanted ads Retail. It included insights into:
- The mass reach of local media across the UK.
- How the local media audiences act upon advertising messages with independent research findings from the wanted ads Stages I, II and III.
- How communities across Britain engage with local media as part of their every day lives with findings from the NS/Millward Brown six-figure Local Matters project.
- The importance of local media within the communications mix based on independent research conducted for the wanted ads Retail by Continental Research.
- How major national advertisers in the retail sector are driving their business with effective use of the full local media mix, including print and online.
The NS has launched three ‘core category’ research projects highlighting independent findings by Continental Research in Retail, Property and Motors sectors. A fourth study is currently underway in the Recruitment sector and will be launched as the wanted ads Jobs later this year.
Robert Ray said: “We have seen huge interest from advertisers and their agencies in the core category work we have conducted under the umbrella of the wanted ads.
“In every sector, we have been able to clearly demonstrate the dynamism of local media and its absolute relevance to the communications mix. I am delighted with the positive response we have received from some of the UK’s top advertisers.”
For further information please contact Robert Ray on 020 7632 7441 or e-mail robert_ray@newspapersoc.org.uk.
Carmarthenshire Council Attacked Over TV Station Plans
Carmarthenshire Council has been accused of wasting taxpayers’ money on a “propaganda tool” after it announced plans to launch an internet TV station at a cost of £30,000 a year.
The Labour-Independent council, which already publishes a bi-monthly newspaper, has suffered heavy criticism from councillors who slammed the TV station as “self-promotion”.
“This is something that concerns me greatly,” said councillor Huw Lewis at a recent meeting reported in the Carmarthen Journal. “We are in a recession and vital and essential services are having to suffer cuts.
“Are we going to spend money on communication or building relationships with people? We have to invest our money in people and not in technology.
“What we don’t need at all is a computer programme which is simply a propaganda tool.”
Plaid Cymru leader councillor Peter Hughes Griffiths said he was concerned and pointed to alleged one-sided reporting in Community News.
“There is a view about Community News in the community that it is very, very one-sided,” he said. “That’s a concern about the way we provide information.”
A provider and funding for the channel, which could be similar to Kent County Council’s, are currently being discussed.
Carmarthenshire Council is planning to drop one issue of its Community News magazine to pay its share of the start up costs.
The majority of the funding will be provided by the Welsh Assembly which brought forward the bilingual TV channel as a 12-month pilot project.
Adam Price MP added his voice to calls for the plans to be scrapped, as reported by the Journal on Friday.
Mr Price said: “I am quite astonished that the county council would think it is appropriate to spend thousands of pounds of taxpayer’s money on a TV channel and self promotion at the same time people in the county are struggling to make ends meet.
“It is amazing that while the Labour-Independent group leading the council complain that they do not have enough money, even though they received one of the best local government settlements in Wales, they consider self-promotion through a TV channel as an acceptable expense.”
For further information please contact Paul Sinker on 020 7632 7424 or e-mail sinkerp@newspapersoc.org.uk.
ENPA And FAEP Discussions with Commissioner Viviane Reding
ENPA president Valdo Lehari Jr and David J. Hanger, FAEP president, held a meeting last week with Commissioner Viviane Reding who is in charge of Information Society and Media at the European Commission.
They informed Ms. Reding about the difficult financial situation of the press sector in the EU member states, highlighting that the last two months showed the highest decrease of advertising revenue for Europe’s press in history.
The presidents drew the attention of the Commissioner to urgent challenges which need an immediate and appropriate response such as EU policy on copyright, media pluralism and ownership, and advertising regulation.
For further information please contact Paul Sinker on 020 7632 7424 or e-mail sinkerp@newspapersoc.org.uk.