The search engine giant will today make the case that regional newspaper publishers should be allowed to merger, because of the impact of Google and other internet companies, in its submission to the Office of Fair Trading’s review of the existing newspaper merger structure.
(hat tip to @johncthompson for this one) The BBC has asked its audience to send in pictures of local newspaper billboards to show ‘a week in local news’.
The results can be seen in this Flickr group. Favourite billboard so far: ‘Jilted lover kills ex’s fish’.
The results of a £250,000 investment can be seen below – as can a pic of me gazing somewhat adoringly at Sir Michael Parkinson, who expressed his concerns for the future of local media at the event.
The opening was followed up by a visit to the Nottingham Evening Post and a good chat with deputy editor Martin Done about how it integrated its newsroom – more thoughts to come on this.
The UK’s Press Association (PA) has announced a new service – a video wire of raw news footage.
While the association has produced video since 2005, it has never made this content available on a news wire, alongside text and pictures.
Subscribers to the service will be able to edit their own packages from the clips, a release from the agency said – making the cost of the service lower.
Regional newspapers will be offered a free trial of the service, which will feature up to 30 stories a day.
“The video wire is not only a cost-effective solution for news broadcasters, but will also support regional media players at an important stage in their development as multi-platform businesses,” said Tony Watson, PA managing director, in the release.
“As DCMS and Ofcom grapple with the issue of safeguarding plurality of provision in PSB regional television news, we believe the new UK video service could make a significant contribution to the solutions currently under consideration.”
The PA’s launch comes as potential partnerships between the BBC and local media on training and equipment are set to get the go ahead – according to this MediaGuardian report.
An alternative perspective on the council publication debate from Dan Mason, a former managing editor for 12 London weeklies. He is fed up with the ‘pathetic tirade’ over local council publications, and argues that time should be spent talking, rather than warring.
(…) “[T]he fact is, if we’d [regional newspapers] done our job right and maintained a constructive, consistent, high-level relationship with council chiefs in years gone by, Cllr LGA chairman Margaret Eaton wouldn’t have been in a position to make this astonishing remark to the OFT: ‘The local media cannot provide the same amount of information about how to access services as a dedicated council publication can.'”
Seven of the UK’s largest media publishers have produced a report urging the Office of Fair Trading to improve the process for newspaper mergers.
The publishers, known as the Local Media Alliance (LMA), submitted the 108-page report, titled ‘The Case for Modernising the Approach to Local Media Mergers’, on March 31.
The LMA believes the system needs updating to reflect the changes in today’s local media markets and to ensure there is a long-term future for local newspapers.
The report details what the group want changed in the merger process, including more flexibility with newspaper mergers, so the industry can move into the multimedia sector more easily.
Roger Parry, chairman of the LMA explained the importance of the mergers process in the introduction of the report.
“This consolidation will support local efficiency and effectiveness to the benefit not only of the larger publishing organisations but also smaller publishers who will be able to grow their businesses through title acquisition or exchange that has previously been prevented.”
The LMA said changing the process would not deny local advertisers the choice of where they allocate their media expenditure, nor prevent readers from being able to access local news from local journalists. Local titles could be protected by creating merged organisations with a clear focus on local media, it said.
According to the report, there are 40 million readers a week for print across 1,300 newspaper titles, while 24 million users access 1,200 local newspaper websites, which shows that the local newspaper industry remains a large and diverse, with 87 publishing groups.
“It is the firm belief of the LMA members that print publications will continue to play a pivotal role in the local multimedia business of the future,” added Parry.
The UK’s Culture, Media and Sport Commons Select Committee has launched an inquiry into the future of regional and local media.
“With a week to go until the NUJ’s parlimentary lobby over local media cutbacks, more than seventy UK MPs have signed a motion on the issue,” the National Union of Journalists reports.
“The parliamentary petition regrets job cuts at profitable local media and calls on the government to give state support only in return for guarantees on investment in journalism,” the release continues.
Following his piece on the regional press on MediaGuardian.co.uk, Jon Slattery has published a series of full interviews with industry representatives from the UK’s regional press.
Speaking about the impact of job losses on journalists, an ex-editor says:
“There’s simply nothing out there. Six weeks ago they were an editor, a man of significant substance in their community; today they’re signing on.”
The NUJ has issued a release calling on Trinity Mirror ‘to put a stop to its cost-cutting programmes and come up with a strategy that shows respect for local communities and invests in a long-term plan to ensure the success of its papers and websites.’
“The company’s figures show that, despite the downturn, Trinity Mirror still made operating profits of over £145 million – of which £68 million came from local media. The company’s profit margin is almost 17 per cent,” the release said.