Editors urged to highlight newspapers’ public role
Local and regional newspaper editors are being urged to provide examples of how they have held public bodies to account in a bid to highlight the industry’s “vital” public role… FULL STORY
Locally Connected Goes Global
Locally Connected, the UK’s first print and online audience measurement currency, will be presented by JICREG chairman Howard Scott to WAN-IFRA’s World Newspapers Advertising Conference in Copenhagen next week. The system is already attracting interest from the US and Far East.
The system will be updated with new web traffic and print circulation data figures published by ABC today (Thursday). The data will be used to update JICREG and Locally Connected over the next couple of months.
Launched by the NS last year, Locally Connected now has eight member publishers after the KM Group joined in January.
Representing over 72 per cent of the local media industry, the other members are Trinity Mirror, Northcliffe Media, Johnston Press, Newsquest, Guardian Media Group, Midland News Association and Iliffe News & Media.
- WAN-IFRA’s 20th World Newspapers Advertising Conference & Expo
- Locally Connected background & methodology
For more information please contact Lynne Anderson on 020 7632 7421 or email lynne_anderson@newspapersoc.org.uk.
Wood & Vale Reporter Lands Political Scoop
The Wood & Vale landed a top scoop last week after breaking the story of the dramatic resignation of Joanne Cash – the Conservative candidate for Westminster North.
Sanchez Manning, reporter on the Archant title, was the only journalist to attend the meeting of the Westminster North Conservative Association after receiving a tip off from a contact.
The meeting saw Ms Cash dramatically quit the candidacy after a heated discussion with constituency chairman Amanda Sayers.
The story was picked up by national press when it appeared on the Wood & Vale website the next day and the newspaper was contacted by The Times, The Mirror and the Daily Mail, as well as BBC’s Newsnight.
A few days after the meeting, Ms Cash performed a U-turn when she withdrew her resignation and announced she would be standing after all.
The Wood & Vale followed up the scoop with interviews with both Joanne Cash and Amanda Sayers, and Sanchez went on to do an interview for Newsnight with political editor Michael Crick.
For more information please contact Charles Folkes on 020 7632 7422 or e-mail charles_folkes@newspapersoc.org.uk.
Local Newspaper Week 2010: Your Voice
Local Newspaper Week 2010 will take place from 10-16 May this year with the theme ‘Your Voice’, focusing on the importance of independent local journalism, relevant to readers’ lives and trusted by local communities to hold public bodies to account.
Editors are being encouraged to provide examples of the hard-hitting investigative journalism, coverage of courts, councils and other public bodies, and influential campaigning work which their papers have undertaken.
Last year’s Local Newspaper Week focused on ‘Building Stronger Communities’, was well represented by our members, and garnered high-profile support from, among others, David Cameron, Jamie Oliver, Piers Morgan and John Stapleton.
Hundreds of newspapers across the UK take part in Local Newspaper Week, now in its 13th year, reminding their readers, advertisers, MPs and opinion-formers why a thriving local media industry – in print and online – is so important to us all.
The website www.localnewspaperweek.co.uk will be updated during the weeks to come with articles and messages from public figures, logos, graphics and local press statistics, to complement editors’ own work.
For further information please contact Charles Folkes on 020 7632 7422, e-mail charles_folkes@newspapersoc.org.uk or Paul Sinker on 020 7632 7424, e-mail sinkerp@newspapersoc.org.uk.
Lords Cite Importance of Local Newspapers as Election Draws Closer
Peers have praised the role of local newspapers as “a linchpin of local democracy” and cited their importance in the forthcoming general election in a wide-ranging debate on Monday.
Lords questioned whether councils should be printing their own newspapers with one peer calling for quangos and Government to “stop passing the buck and take some decisions” on the issue.
Lord Luke said of council newspapers: “Nothing concrete has been done to investigate this. Does the Minister agree that an investigation needs to begin so that solutions can be sought and enacted before more damage is done?
“When will the Audit Commission, Ofcom, the Office of Fair Trading, and the Government stop passing the buck and take some decisions? Does the Minister believe that newspapers produced by councils should have to be clearly distinguishable from commercial newspapers so that the public are not misled as to the independence of the reporting?
“Is the Minister concerned that if council-run papers replace their independent counterparts, it will lead to a less rigorous scrutiny of local officials at the price of democracy? Do the Government support council newspapers and have they any plans to tighten up the local authority publicity code?”
Lord Harrison, who led the debate, asked the Government what assessment it had made of the state of local and regional newspapers. He said: “For the 80 per cent of us who still read our local newspaper, they are not just a source of information and news about what is happening in our local community, a sounding board for local views and gossip and a public square for campaigns fought locally.
“A local newspaper is also a companion that walks with us down our street when we leave our home for work, the shops, the match or the pub. It arrives through the front door and lies around the house for the next seven days, like a next-door neighbour who is always ready for a cup of tea and a chat.
“For those of us in local politics-maybe all politics is local-the local paper is the cornerstone of democracy. It offers a fairer report of real hand-to-hand politics that matters more to local people than ever do the less-read national papers, cut off and isolated as they are in the overall hothouse atmosphere of the Westminster village.
He added: “This is an important debate, especially as an election draws near, where it is vital that the public gain the very best information that they can about a local candidate. As I say, I am not always sure that the national media perform that function well as opposed to local journalists.”
Speaking for the Government, Lord Davies said that while local authorities had a right to communicate effectively with their local communities, when they strayed into being supported by advertising which would otherwise be available to local media then “an element of unfair competition might come in.”
He described local media as “a linchpin of local democracy” and reassured the debate that “the Government are fully seized of the financial and economic challenge to local and regional press.”
Lord Roberts said: “I contend that local newspapers make an essential contribution by providing news of what happens in local communities. They are part of what holds a local community together.
“You can even attack the stories. I have often heard people say, “Have you seen what the front page of the Pioneer says this week?”; or “I don’t agree with the editorial comment in the North Wales Weekly News”. At least you can have a discussion. Very rarely do you hear people discussing what appears on the internet. The paper in our hand is vital.”
He added: “Mention has been made of advertising revenue and how local council newspapers-freebies-are welcome, but how they use funds that could help to support local newspapers. We have to ask whether councils need to print their own newspapers.”
For further information please contact Paul Sinker on 020 7632 7424 or e-mail sinkerp@newspapersoc.org.uk.
Dyson Praises Evening Telegraph’s Online Promotion of Print Newspaper
Steve Dyson has praised The Evening Telegraph’s marketing of the printed newspaper on its website as an example for other local media publishers to follow.
Writing on his weekly Hold the Front Page newspaper review blog, the former Birmingham Mail editor highlighted strong pointers to the print edition on the Telegraph’s website such as a graphic announcing the title’s free home delivery offer.
“This is great stuff, simple online calls to print that so many newspaper websites could immediately emulate,” Steve wrote.
For further information please contact Paul Sinker on 020 763 274 24 or sinkerp@newspapersoc.org.uk.
NS to Hold Local Media Insight Day for Agencies
Eighteen delegates from media agencies including Walker Media, OMD, PHD and Mindshare are to attend the next Local Media Insight Day tomorrow (Friday).
The insight days aim to give media planners with up to a year’s experience an overview of the local media industry and are held at the NS offices in Holborn.
six-figure NS research and insight projects such as the wanted ads and Local Matters. Practical overviews are also given on case studies, great creative work, Featurelink and JICREG, including the Locally Connected initiative.
Robert Ray, NS Marketing Director, said of the training: “As an ex-agency person myself, I can still name the media organisations that took the effort in helping me understand their media in greater depth when I was starting out. This, without doubt, influenced my own understanding, perception and usage of their particular media channels across many major national brands.
“The NS Insight sessions are a terrific opportunity for us to reach out to agency planners and strategists at a formative stage in their careers. We are able to build a clear understanding of the significance of local media and its effectiveness for advertisers to reach communities across the UK.”
A programme for insight days during 2010 is currently being drawn up by the NS.
For more information contact Justin Fenton on 020 763 27469 or justin_fenton@newspapersoc.org.uk.
Analysts Point to Long-Term Value of Print
Newspapers remain an important route to market for advertisers and there are signs of better times ahead for local media publishers, according to the Investors Chronicle.
“Recent news from Trinity Mirror, Mecom and Johnston Press has indicated that advertising spend may be bottoming out and there is a growing consensus among media commentators that 2010 will see a return to growth.
“Encouragingly, last week’s trading update from Daily Mail & General Trust also revealed that, while management remains cautious, performance during the fourth quarter of 2009 was better than expected and that 2010 has started well with increased advertising revenue in newspapers and online.
The report’s author Roddy Davidson, an analyst at Altium Securities, wrote: “It remains too early to call a full-blown press-advertising recovery, and some categories have undoubtedly been seriously compromised by online penetration.
“However, newspapers remain an important route to market for advertisers and any recovery would have a tangible impact on industry profitability. Lower newsprint prices should also be a positive factor.”
To read the full story click here.
For further information please contact Paul Sinker on 020 763 274 24 or sinkerp@newspapersoc.org.uk.
IFNC Selection Panel Chairman Defends Scheme
Richard Hooper, chairman of the Independently Funded News Consortia selection panel, has outlined the enthusiasm for the scheme displayed by bidders, in response to calls for it to be halted.
Media Guardian journalist Maggie Brown had said it was irresponsible for the replacement ITV regional news pilots to go ahead given the political uncertainty over their future.
Mr Hooper wrote: “All of the selection panel were, frankly, surprised by the level of enthusiasm for the idea of IFNCs. But there is a real sense that this is urgent and requires swift action.
“ITV is less and less willing to fund loss-making regional news; there is a significant news deficit in Wales where 87 per cent of daily newspaper readers are reading an English not a Welsh paper; local newspapers and local radio face structural, not just cyclical decline.
“The pilots will provide any government with models for more innovative, cost-effective and inclusive local news.”
For further information please contact Paul Sinker on 020 763 274 24 or sinkerp@newspapersoc.org.uk.
Recruitment Research Presented to CIPD
The NS yesterday presented the wanted ads Jobs to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the trade body for the human resources industry.
The CIPD marketing team heard from NS marketing director Robert Ray and client dialogue manager Justin Fenton.
Robert said “The CIPD are a hugely important and influential organisation. It was vital for us to get across the highly positive independent findings from the Continental Research project.
“The findings not only provide fascinating insights into the behaviour and attitudes of job seekers and browsers but also confirm the significant and dominant role of local media as the number one communications channel in this marketplace.”
Since the launch of the wanted ads Jobs, the NS marketing team have been presenting to London-based recruitment agencies including Tribal, Euro RSCG Riley, Penna Barker and MWK Advertising.
Next week sees the beginning of a three week series of roadshow sessions using publisher centre facilities across the UK to present the wanted ads Jobs to agencies and clients. Sessions include:
February
- Mon 22: Manchester
- Tue 23: Leeds
- Tue 23: Birmingham
March
- Mon 1: Bristol
- Thu 4: Belfast
- Fri 5: Edinburgh
- Tue 9: Newcastle
- Mon 15: Cardiff
- Tue 16: Maidstone
- Fri 19: Norwich
Further sessions are planned across March and April.
For further information please contact Robert Ray on 020 7632 7441 or e-mail robert_ray@newspapersoc.org.uk.